Game Start!
by ColorKitten6
Summary: When your average, sad human dies and gets brought into a video game version of an anime, things are bound to go wrong. Or maybe right, depending on your perspective. (Reviews fuel my soul!)
1. Chapter 1

Do you know a person? One who lies within the bounds of ordinary? Someone who's not quite exciting, but not quite boring. Not quite messy but not a neat freak either. They're not a genius, but not an idiot. They're average. Have you ever met somebody like that?

Anyone who knew Jane Lindley, the 35-year-old virgin writer from Colorado who grew up in Maine, would say so. Jane was never something extraordinary. Not to those who knew her and often not even to herself.

Jane had an average family with a mother, father, sibling, and dog. She had a solid C average with the occasional B. Was never really outgoing but never too introverted either. Not a troublemaker per se, but Jane wasn't completely straight-laced. Just average.

Jane was Jane. Even her name being average, forgettable. Nothing in her life lasted particularly long or short, her relationships dead even. Jane could be removed from life and nothing would change. Even Jane herself doubted anyone would notice if she just disappeared.

There was only one thing that could be considered extraordinary about Jane. Even then it was something only Jane could see. Although 'see' isn't exactly the word for it. It was her imagination after all.

Imagination was the only thing that Jane liked about herself. Just sitting for hours and letting the worlds created in her mind take over her, overpower her, empowering her to continue her boring and average life.

Yet it was the same imagination that Jane liked that led to her greatest weakness. Her attention span, or lack thereof. It seems silly but it's true.

Not being able to focus affected Jane in many ways. Her grades dropped as she missed information. Her relationships suffered, Jane seemingly uninterested in what others had to say. Even if Jane couldn't care more about what someone had to say. She'd miss it, mind wandering.

It's this weakness that even led to her death, as stupid as it may seem. Honestly, it's ridiculous on Jane's part for how she died. Jane even paying the slightest bit of attention would've been able to save her.

A burglar had broken into Jane's house, more of an apartment really. That in it of itself isn't all too special. Except this was clearly a novice thief, making enough noise to wake the dead, and Jane was sitting on the couch.

Freaking out at the prospect of being caught, the thief had made a grab for the nearest thing to him, a lamp, in an attempt to knock Jane out. Really all he had meant to do. The thief yanked the lamp from its socket and bashed Julia over the head.

Now, just about literally anyone else would've noticed the burglar long ago. Heard them enter with a thud against the worn-out carpet. Heard their quiet curse as they realized someone was there. The clatter of a metal lamp being forcefully tugged from its position, clattering against the table loudly.

The solid metal lamp, an old antique, hit Jane's head a bit too hard. Completely by accident of course, easily excused by the thief's panic. So Jane wasn't knocked unconscious. No-no, Jane died.

Except, Jane didn't die. Or at least, her consciousness did not as her body certainly had a crushed skull. Not that Jane noticed at first. At first, Jane didn't even notice she died, far off in some world or another.

Time went on, who knows how long as time didn't exactly exist in the void. Jane remained locked in her own head, thinking and imagining this and that. Nothing seemed intent of changing. At least, that is until-

**GAME OVER**

'_Ack! Bright red?! Really? It had to be bright fecking red?'_ Jane cursed, her first real though in the void being a complaint. Rubbing her eyes, or lack thereof because she was more of a ghost technically, Jane kept grumbling to herself.

'_Stupid bright red letter, stupid game over screen, stupid void, stupid stupid stupid' _Jane went on and on in her frustration. At one point even smacking at the surprisingly solid red letters. Jane didn't even notice her mostly transparent hand.

Jane's complaining and grumbling went on for quite a bit, she often got quite riled up when torn from thought. Until logic seemed to catch up with her thoughts. The thin bits of self-awareness making themselves known.

'_Wait that said 'game over'... I'm in a void… I'm all ghost-like… almost like dying in a video game'_ Jane considered for a moment. Then she froze, blinking as she came to the simply _stunning_ realization she should've had a long damn time ago.

'_Does that...that means I… I'm dead?'_ Freaking out should've been Jane's first reaction. Well technically realizing she's dead instead of complaining should've been first but Jane was past that.

Instead of freaking out though, Jane was… oddly calm actually. As if being dead was as simple as noting the weather or it being a Tuesday. '_Is it a Tuesday?'_ Jane thought for a moment before shaking it off, she had no way of knowing.

Then it hit her and Jane was… not exactly calm but somehow still thinking straight. There was _something_ but it certainly wasn't the panic Jane expected. Maybe that was a good thing though.

**NEW GAME**

**LOAD GAME**

**OPTIONS**

**EXIT**

Fourth option? Yeah no, Jane didn't even consider that. Jane wasn't exactly a genius but it didn't take one to realize that **Exit** would mean dying, permanently this time.

The next thought was to **Load**. Jane had never seen a screen like this before but maybe there was something there? There wasn't. Shocker.

"What idiot doesn't save?" Jane scrunched up her face, even she remembered to save. A flush spread across her face as Jane remembered that this...game thing was apparently _her_ life. The idiot was her.

One of Jane's decisions finally bore some fruit as Jane went with the third option. A mental slap to the **Options** screen bringing up… an options menu? She supposed that was to be expected. It was pretty typical for a options screen.

**Difficulty: **Easy**, Normal, **_**Hard**_**, Very Hard, Nightmare**

**Language: **_**English**_**, . . ., . . .**

**Leveling: Enabled, **_**Disabled**_

**Tutorial: Enabled, **_**Disabled**_

**Help: Enabled, **_**Disabled**_

**Graphics: Pixelated, Cartoon, **_**Realistic**_

**HUD: Enabled, **_**Disabled**_

A mildly offended noise left Jane, "Who the hell chose _these_ options? It certainly wasn't me!" She protested. Even though that, as far as Jane knew, she was the only **Player.** So, it was, in a way, her fault.

Either way, it wasn't like Jane was going to let it slide. So with a solid vision of what she wanted, Jane moved some of the options around. Difficulty went to normal, not allowing easy for some reason. All the disabled options were enabled too. Jane wisely left the graphics alone.

Language remained English because Jane didn't know any other language. Maybe that's why it was the only option? Probably.

Eventually, Jane was happy with her settings. So, leaving the **Options**, Jane went to the only option she hadn't explored yet.

After intense deliberation -or about five seconds, either or- Jane just decided to click **New Game**. It was the least predictable option. Sure it meant starting this… _game _but what was the game?

**New Game selected…**

**...Loading…**

**...Loading…**

**...Loading…**

**...Error 404: Character not found…**

**...Redirecting to Character Customization…**

**...10%...**

**...23%...**

**...45%...**

**...64%...**

**...75%...**

…**80%...**

**...93%...**

**...100%...**

**...Finalizing…**

**Loading Complete**

**Enjoy the Game**


	2. Chapter 2

Jane came to in a...room if that's what you could call it. It was more room than the last place, that's for sure. So Jane supposed it could be called a room.

This… room was substantially more gray than the other. Jane thought that was good. Gray was technically more of a color than black. This place also had things like walls and what looked to be a floor. It was all in shades of gray but at least now Jane could tell up from down.

In front of Jane were some bright white letters, glowing the barest bit blue. Below the text was very distinctly a keyboard. It was interactive and everything, which was good. While typing with your mind was cool, Jane could see where it would get annoying,

**Enter A Name: **_default_

Jane hummed, considering. Should she go with her name? Or something else? Something fun! Jane's name was boring. So what should she go with? There were a lot of names Jane liked like Zack, Tiffiany, Alex, Sakura, Maxwell, Elenore, Akira... That one sounded nice to her.

**Welcome, Akira.**

**Please select features from the following,**

Okay, so _maybe_ Akira was the name of some edgy anime oc. Maybe, it was a bit predictable and totally overused but Jane thought it sounded cool. It wasn't like anyone was around to judge her for it. Absolutely nobody.

From the floor came what looked to be a genderless store mannequin. To her right, a list of folders with various physical features were stacked neatly, waiting to be opened.

To Akira's left were some simple sliders labeled **Height **and **Weight**. Beneath the sliders were two buttons labeled **Male** and **Female**. Neither of which were selected.

"That's a lot of options… where to start…" Akira hummed, the figment that was her ghostly hand hovering in the air. If she was to start from the top, then choosing a gender would be the best place to begin.

"I've already been a girl so let's be a guy this time!" With absolutely flawless logic, to Akira at least, she-he chose **Male**. It was how Akira usually made their video game characters, when they had the attention span to play them that is.

Wider shoulders and a plain pair of briefs appeared on the previously genderless mannequin. Now it was a featureless, pale white, male store mannequin. Looking at the folders, Akira took a deep 'breath'. He had a lot of work to do.

First things first, **Height **and **Weight**. Thankfully, the **Weight** slider naturally scaled to a healthy height-weight ratio. It certainly helped Akira not to accidentally make himself anorexic or overweight. Akira went with a solid 6 feet tall.

The rest of the process doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. All that matters is the end result. So here's what Akira chose to look like when they reached adult age.

As previously stated, Akira is 6 feet tall. His physique was slim but strong, like a swimmer or maybe a runner's build. Lightly tanned skin was speckled with freckles because Akira thought that looked cute.

Pitch black hair fell over one eye in a mix of curls and waves that ended slightly below his chin. It felt really fluffy as Akira could not resist touching it. The feeling of his hair was particularly satisfying for Akira.

Bright green doe eyes almost seemed to glow, giving the rather tall man an innocent look. Yet at the same time an almost mysterious aura. Like Akira knew something that no one else did. The eyes were Akira's favourite part.

Finally happy with the end result, Akira moved on. Though the real question is who the hell takes three hours to design a character? Just me? Nevermind, let's continue.

**First Playthrough locks:**

**Default Affiliation selected**

**Default Spawn selected**

**Please Distribute Stats**

The words appeared and faded quickly. It was almost too fast for Akira to read. Thankfully, Jane had enough experience from spacing out in english class to be able to read fast enough to catch it. Finally something useful from her absent-mindedness!

**STR: 5** \+ -

**DEX: 5** \+ -

**VIT: 5** \+ -

**INT: 5** \+ -

**WIS: 5** \+ -

**LUC: 5 **\+ -

**CC: 5 **\+ -

**Points to Allocate: 15**

"Huh, cool, this really is just like a game" Akira hummed, their voice still the quiet feminie one of Jane. He wondered when that would change. Maybe once he… she… entered the game world?

Oh well, there's no way to find out then finish the character and go in. First things first though, what do any of these things mean? Akira didn't know. Or at least not for certain what they meant.

As if reading his mind, which the game was likely capable of, the definitions appeared suddenly. Almost overlapping with the stats, it was quite hard to read. Akira managed somehow.

They were as following,

**-STR-**

**Strength**

**Affects muscle mass, melee damage, lift strength, fortitude, and overall fitness.**

**-DEX-**

**Dexterity**

**Affects movement speed, agility, ranged weaponry, flexibility, and overall fitness**

**-VIT-**

**Vitality**

**Affects stamina bar, health bar, damage taken, recovery speed, and overall fitness.**

**-INT-**

**Intelligence**

**Affects memorization, recall, reading speed, and chakra capacity.**

**-WIS-**

**Wisdom**

**Affects insight, strategy, decision making, chakra regeneration, and deception.**

**-LUC-**

**Luck**

**Affects percentage rolls in game**

**-CC-**

**Chakra Control (Max at 100)**

**Affects cost of jutsu, cost of chakra control techniques, and overall finesse.**

"Finally, something actually helpful!" Akira cheered like an insane person. Then he slowly sobered as he realized he was actually going to have to put some thought into this… game thing.

"Hmm, I could be a tank, a wizard, maybe something like a rogue with how dexterity seems to be working…" going deep into thought. Akira thought less about pros and cons and more about what might look cool.

"Ah to hell with it, being any of these in real life terrifies me. I'm just gonna split them evenly. I'll figure out what to make of myself later," Akira spoke into the void, knowing full well that he was never going to figure out what or how to make himself something.

Now, most people might have realized what having chakra would mean for them by now. Perhaps even before now would they have realized. Jane -and Akira by proxy- was not most people. So the word 'chakra' barely even registered in his mind.

Either way, Akira played around with his stats. Eventually, he even came to something that seemed fair enough to him. It was about even.

**STR: 8**\+ -

**DEX: 7**\+ -

**VIT: 7**\+ -

**INT: 8**\+ -

**WIS: 8**\+ -

**LUC: 6**\+ -

**CC: 7**\+ -

**Points to Allocate: 0**

So what that **LUC** was the lowest stat. **LUC** had never mattered much in any of the video games Akira had played before he died. To Jane that meant that it was fine having it be low, and possibly never leveling it.

Honestly, Akira wasn't even sure _how_ he might level **LUC** in the future. The rest of the stats seemed clear enough, even if **WIS** was a bit iffy, but **LUC**? Not so much.

"Yeah, I'll take not being an idiot over **LUC** any day," Akira nodded, swiping the screen away almost absent mindedly. Still he did not recognize Chakra for what it was.

**\- Choose (2) Starting Perks -**

The words hovered in front of Akira for a few moments. Then they burst into glitter, quickly fading and being replaced by a long _long_ list of what Akira thought was the perk list.

Most of them were locked, either due to a level restriction or something else. There were quite a few that Akira could still choose.

**Fire Affinity - 50% less chakra for fire jutsus**

**Water Affinity - 50% less chakra for water jutsus**

**Earth Affinity - 50% less chakra for earth jutsus**

**Air Affinity - 50% less chakra for air jutsus**

**Lightning Affinity - 50% less chakra for lightning jutsus**

**Lady Killer - +20% damage to opposite gender, +10% chance for higher starting relationship**

**Boy Genius - +10% gain INT, WIS, CC**

**Up Close And Personal - +10% gain STR, VIT, taijutsu**

**Stay Away! - +10% gain CC, DEX, Ranged weaponry**

**White Knight - +10% gain CC, medical jutsu, WIS, DEX**

**Fate's Chew Toy - Make life interesting**

**Lucky Bastard - +10% gain LUC, 15% rarer drops**

**Orphan - 0 starting relationships with anyone you meet**

**Be My Friend - Start with one randomized best friend**

**S.P.E.C.I.A.L. - Gain extra points per level**

**Chakra Monster - Begin with 50% more chakra**

**. . .**

Most of the rest of them faded out. However, there were a couple that weren't. Just placed there, sandwiched between ones Akira couldn't choose.

Anyone that had any sense of time, or just anyone that wasn't Akira, wouldn't have likely seen most if any of these hidden ones. It was less because of a sense of time and more because who would have the patience to scroll through the hundreds of perks just cause? Akira, apparently.

"God that's a lot of options." If Akira could sweat drop, he would. As it was, he could not. In fact, Akira could not do much of anything physically. Akira was a ghost at the moment.

"Right! Might as well just start crossing them off." The first ones to go were the affinities. Akira just thought those were too obvious. Anyone would pick those, and Akira was not just anyone.

Akira knew he wasn't much for healing. He hated hospitals and everything associated with them. It also required a lot of patience Akira didn't know he had. He obviously did, he scrolled through all of the perks after all, but that didn't mean Akira thought he had patience.

**Boy Genius** was just ridiculously overpowered, especially if Akira grabbed **Up close and Personal**. They each covered the bases the other didn't. Akira didn't know how he felt about hand to hand though, so he shelved **Up close and Personal** and continued on his way.

**Fate's Chew Toy** was… well it was certainly vague. It also gave Akira shivers he wasn't sure he liked. There were just some off putting vibes there. Akira immediately tossed the idea of choosing it away.

**Orphan** felt stupid, why wouldn't Akira have as status of 0 with people he didn't know? **Be My Friend** was also useless, Akira could make friends if he wanted to. **S.P.E.C.I.A.L** was tossed for similar reasons to **Orphan**, it felt useless.

**Stay Away!** could have been a good choice. But Akira had already chosen **Boy Genius** and they covered most of the same bases. So it was sadly discarded. Even if getting both had interesting implications.

Being straight, Akira felt **Lady Killer** was a bit null. Or at least half of it was null. Then again, was he technically gay? He had been a she, and she liked boys, so he liked boys too… was he gay? Probably.

In the end, Akira chose **Boy Genius** and one of the hidden gems he found squashed between options he couldn't choose.

**Ooo! Pointy!** **\- +30% gain to all weapons with sharp blades, +10% DEX, VIT**

Similar to **Stay Away!** it covered the bases that **Boy Genius** didn't. Of course there still was the issue of no **STR** modifier but that didn't really matter, right?

**Ooo! Pointy! **also had a few implications that Akira liked. After all, 'all weapons with sharp blades' was quite vague. An arrow had a sharp bit, so that could be a blade.

"A'ight then, we're done here. Now what?" Akira asked the thin air. No screen popped up after Akira confirmed his choices. The perk screen just faded away.

The game wasn't sentient. Even if the way it would somehow answer Akira's questions made it seem sentient. The next screen definitely answered Akira's question.

**Enjoy Naruto: Akira's Journey!**

'...Chakra… Naruto… wait…' Something clicked in Akira's head, and suddenly he realized. 'Oh shit, I'm in Naruto?!'

Then, nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

Next thing Akira knew, they were lying in a bed. His eyes were closed, like he had just woken up but refused to accept it. The bed under him was uncomfortably bumpy. A scratchy blanket covered him and smelled a bit concerning.

His eyes fluttered open. The first thing Akira saw was a stained ceiling, warped with time. The walls were a creamy yellow color, peeling in some places and discolored in others.

Akira sat up, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. The floor was wooden. It looked like it would squeak with every step. There were a few carpets, also having discolored spots caused by unknown substances.

Quite a few other beds were spaced evenly throughout the room, each one identical to the one beneath him. Unlike Akira's bed, they were empty. Blankets were tossed to the sides like the people who were laying in them were in a hurry.

It was only then that the game chose to make itself known.

**\- Start Tutorial -**

**[ Y ] / **[ N ]

There were two reasons Akira chose to do the tutorial. The first is because not doing the tutorial is a very stupid decision, especially since this one concerns his life. The second is because the game didn't even make it possible to say no.

Looking around as the tutorial loaded, Akira concluded that he must be in an orphanage. Light streamed through the window at one end of the room, the only other exit door opposite. An odd set up but if it was an orphanage, there would be quite a few other rooms like this one.

**Welcome, Akira, please choose a starting point for your tutorial experience**

**Character**

**Inventory**

**Skills**

**Relationships**

**Save**

"Huh, where tooooo-" Akira trailed off quietly. In a rare moment of awareness, Akira realized he shouldn't speak out loud concerning the game. That might end badly. Especially with characters like Orochimaru around this world, who knows what Orochimaru would do to him if he knew.

'Not to mention I don't know whether or not any ninjas are around. They might think me insane,' Akira hummed quietly to himself. No, he was not aware enough to realize talking to himself was a sign of insanity.

Then again, seeing as Akira barely realized he had died at first, sane might be the last thing you call him. Sanity is overrated anyway. Maybe Akira's there-lack-of simply just made life more interesting. Hopefully, it's a good kind of interesting.

'Anyway! Back to that other thought! When in doubt, start at the top and work your way out!' Akira smiled, reaching up to tap **Character**. When his hand went right through it, Akira jumped.

'Right, it's thought with this stuff.' Nodding to himself, Akira thought **Character** instead. 'It makes sense I guess, vague motions at nothing in the air also would look weird I guess' Akira hummed, smiling.

**This the Character Sheet. Here you will see your titles, stats, perks and status effects. Other usages of this page are leveling up and allocating points.**

**Title: Orphan**

**Name: Akira**

**Age: 8**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Health - 102 / 102 **

**SP - 102 / 102**

**CP - 60 / 60**

**STR - 7**

**DEX - 7 **

**VIT - 7**

**INT - 8**

**WIS - 8**

**LUC - 6**

**CC - 7**

**Points to Allocate - 0**

**\- Perks -**

**Boy Genius**

**Ooo! Pointy!**

'Hm? Why is my **Sp **and **HP **102? My **CP** is 60?' Akira pondered. Neither of those seemed like average starting stats, which were usually multiples of 50. 'Are my stats already changing my stamina and chakra pools?' Akira came to the conclusion that, yes, they are.

It made sense. Afterall, if choosing starting stats _didn't_ affect his starting pools then what was the use? Or at least, that's how it made sense to Akira. Though he did want to know what other people had for stats now. Just to compare, no other reason. No, really.

'Wait, I'm 8?' Akira took another look around the room he was in, 'I'm in an orphanage too… maybe this is what the game meant by **Starting Point**?' It was a good starting point. No clan affiliation or anything.

'I guess it makes sense. What if someone who didn't know Naruto chose to be an Uchiha? That would be a short playthrough.' Akira giggled. They had only binged Naruto once and then never returned. Still, he knew that playing as an Uchiha was likely a death sentence.

Humming, Akira decided to move on. There wasn't much of interest on the screen anyway. It was better to get this done as soon as possible anyway, just in case time hadn't frozen for the tutorial.

**This is the Inventory. Here, most items will stack up to 99. A few may not go as high, or may not stack at all. Here you also gain access to your quest log and quest items.**

In front of him was a large 10 by 10 grid. Above was a bar with three options. Directly below was a line with just what looked to be a folder with a plus sign over it. Akira may not be a genius, but even he could tell it was a way to make folders for organizing purposes.

The first option was **Inventory**, it was highlighted. Akira could easily tell it was what he was on now.

Second was **Quest Items**, it looked to be grayed out. Akira assumed it was because he had no quest items.

Finally was the **Quest Log**. Upon entering, it only had one very simple quest in it. So simple that Akira was already almost finished with it.

**[Complete the Tutorial]**

**\- You decided to activate the tutorial, complete it**

**Rewards: Exp - (2) stat points - (1) E-Rank Skill**

The quest seemed to have auto accepted itself. Seeing as how Akira was already planning on completing the tutorial, it made sense. 'Will other quests be like that?' Akira mulled over it for a minute.

Nothing came from the game to answer his question. Akira just decided to continue on with the tutorial. The E-Rank skill bit was interesting though. 'What does that even mean? Is it like a jutsu or something? What would an E-Rank jutsu be anyway'

Thankfully, **Skills** was the next screen to look through. Although, Akira didn't pay much attention to the descriptive text the game provided. He was still puzzled over what the hell an E-Rank jutsu would be. 'Like Breathing? Walking?'

**This is the Skills List. Here you will find any and all skills you have at your disposal.**

The screen was split up into several tabs. **Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Fuuinjutsu, Iyrojutsu**, and **General** were listed at the top. The only one available was the **General** section, which Akira was currently on.

In the tab were several collapsable lists reading **E- Rank, D- Rank, C- Rank, B- Rank, A- Rank, **and **S- Rank**. Most of which were completely inaccessible and showed nothing.

Akira currently had two skills total, both **S- Rank**. It came as a surprise to him at first. Then, he read the skills and suddenly he wasn't so surprised.

**Gamer's Mind - Level (MAX) - The ability to think things through calmly - Resist Mind Techniques**

and

**Gamer's Body - Level (MAX) - Damage is taken as if in a video game - Certain Injuries shown as status effect - gain bonuses from certain items - heal by sleeping**

They were probably the most accurate skills to his current situation. It wouldn't really make sense if Akira had any other skills. After all, he hadn't done much more than sit up so far in the game.

It almost didn't make sense for the skills to be **S- Rank** at all. Then Akira considered the possibilities of them for the average joe. In most video games, you can heal bullet wounds by crouching behind a desk for a few moments.

Shivering, Akira imagined if Orochimaru had **Gamer's Body**. He was already nigh - invincible in canon, only beaten out by people like Pein and Obito. If he could heal by just crouching behind a tree for a few minutes. Akira shivered again, it was a bad thought.

Honestly, Orochimaru wasn't that bad of a character. Or at least Akira didn't think so. His design was cool and so was the general premise of his character. One of his favourites really.

However, Orochimaru also had a habit of being a fucking creep. His goals and morals weren't the best either. Really, it was better if Orochimaru didn't have access to either these skills. Or this game in general.

Some say Akira's resolve for no one to find out about the game grew three sizes that day, or minute, or however it went. But, yeah, Akira didn't fancy being a test subject. No bad snake man for him.

'Right, enough of all that,' Akira shook his head, mentally dispelling the screen in front of him with the rest of his thoughts. Immediately after, another screen came into view. Akira decided to focus on that rather than the implications of being Orochimaru's test subject.

**This is the Relationship Tab. Here will list relationships with individuals, restaurants, and even whole villages. The Relationship Meter is as follows.**

**Abhorred - -5000**

**Enemies - -4001 - -4999**

**Hated - -2001 - -4000**

**Disliked - -1001 - -2000**

**Strangers - 1000 - -1000**

**Liked - 2000 - 1001**

**Friends - 4000 - 2001**

**Best Friends - 4001 - 4999**

**Exalted - 5000**

**Note: Romantic relations are locked until [Friends] is reached. Friendship meter is not locked with Romance meter unlocked.**

**Current Relationships -**

**Konoha Civilians - Strangers (0)**

**Konoha Shinobi - Strangers (0)**

**Matron Mira - Liked (1150)**

**Naruto Uzumaki - Strangers (5)**

'Why do I have any relationship with Naruto?' Akira wondered, knowing he hasn't met Naruto in the maybe five minutes he's been in the game, 'And who the hell is Matron Mira?' Akira knows for a fact he has no idea who any 'Matron Mira' is.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Akira was blind to the creak of old hinges as the wooden door swung open. Old floorboards gave sounds of protest as a rather large woman stepped into the room.

The woman didn't look very large weight wise, though she did have a bit of a belly, but rather she looked to be a bit over 6 feet tall. Far taller than Akira's current height of maybe four foot two.

Maybe it was because Akira was so short, but to him the woman looked like a giant. A gentle giant with soft, gray streaked brown hair and kind eyes but a giant nonetheless.

A large hand, at least compared to Akira, shook his shoulder gently. "Akira," Her hair was long enough to brush against his face as she lent down, "It's time for breakfast." Her voice was soft, almost motherly in a way Akira hadn't heard in a long time.

He opened his eyes -when had he closed them?- and sat up -wasn't he already sitting?-, smiling at the woman. "Coming miss Mira," Akira chirped in what was definitely a young _boy's_ voice.

So that was Matron Mira, Akira decided. Briefly confused about how he got to laying down again, Akira stood to follow the Matron out of the room. Mostly he was mourning not being able to finish the tutorial in peace but _still._ 'Why was I laying down?'

The best answer Akira could come up with was that it was the game's doing. It wasn't a very satisfying answer but it's Akira, how much better could you get? The game's the reason he was here in the first place, right? Right, it made sense.

Mira walked confidently out of the room, dark dress flowing behind her. Akira just followed her dutifully, not quite sure where he was going.

Praying that he would not run into - or over if they were young enough - anyone, Akira turned back to the tutorial. He did have a quest to complete after all.

**This is the save screen. You may save as many times as you see fit so save often.**

Despite the game claiming to have unlimited saves, there were only three slots beneath it. So maybe not quite unlimited save. Certainly a lot of saving over saves would be done. If Akira would remember to save at all.

Akira almost raised his hand to save. About a second after that he remembered he was no longer alone, nor did the screen actually accept physical contact. He almost face palmed at his own stupidity. Almost, not quite.

'Right, ummm…**Save 1**?' It was almost a question, not quite but it was almost there.

**Title Save Slot [1]**

'I get to name it? Huh… uh… **Tutorial Finished**?' It was simple but it would tell Akira exactly the point in time he was, so it worked.

**Saving. . .**

The Matron and Akira walked down a set of rickety old stairs, the third seemed one wrong step away from breaking.

**Saving . . .**

Several kids joined the pair, rushing past them. Each one seemed young, the youngest looking two or three and the oldest seeming five at most.

**Saved [Tutorial Finished]**

The Matron led Akira through a short archway, of which she had to duck under. The pair entered into what had to be a dining hall, it wouldn't make sense to be anything but.

Long tables were stacked and squeezed together, taking up almost all the available space in the room. Each line of tables had enough chairs to fit maybe twenty kids if they really squeezed in there. There were three rows, so the maximum the room could hold looked to be about sixty.

There looked to be more than sixty in the room though. Many children were already there, more than just the maybe twenty kids around Akira. The age range was wider in the room. The youngest looking to be about one, it was a girl being fed by an older kind. The oldest looked eleven or so.

Suddenly and without warning, everything around Akira froze and bled to gray, excluding him. The switch was so sudden that if Akira hadn't been frozen in place, color intact, then he would've tripped.

Blue words exploded into being around him, a burst of confetti and glitter coming from him in a display Akira wished he could bat away from his eyes.

**Quest Completed!**

**[Finish The Tutorial]**

**\- You activated the tutorial, finish it**

**Rewards: EXP - (2) stat points - (1) E-Rank Skill**

**[Accept]**

**(Note: The fanfare only appears this one time as to not be a distraction during vital moments of gameplay)**

Akira was unashamed to admit the flood of relief when he heard the confetti would not attack him a second time. He didn't think he could handle having to see it every single time he completed a task.

An **HP, SP, **and **CP** bar appeared in the upper right of Akira's view. Under them was what looked to be a scroll. When had those appeared? Just now or when he had woken up? Was Akira really so oblivious as to not have noticed them?

Yes, yes he was. 'I really shouldn't be surprised at this point. I mean I missed the fact I apparently fucking died so really, this isn't that bad in comparison.' Then Akira accepted the rewards.

Glowing under the scroll was a tiny little number one, a soft ping reaching Akira's ears. Before he could open it, time resumed.

Tots and other small children raced passed his legs as the matron rang the bell. They almost sent Akira off his feet. It was then he decided to not yet open up the scroll notification thing. Maybe he would later, while he was eating.

Tiny tots were just wayyyy too easy to trip over.

**First Author's note is happening a lot sooner this time, huh?**

**Anyway, on to the point of this note. I would like to request help thinking of perks. I have a small list but if I'm being honest, this three-month hiatus has spawned basically nothing from me on that end.**

**So here I am, officially requesting help from whomever the fuck is reading this. If you have an idea for a perk, be it a higher-level one or one Akria could get a level two, then send it in. You might see it used.**

**Actually, you'll probably see it used. It is very likely it will be used. Please send them it. You could private message me or put them in a review, I will read them and I will add them.**

**Thanks a bunch! - Color**


	4. Chapter 4

Breakfast was rice, because of course it was. From what Akira knew of his world, Asians ate a lot of rice. Naruto was a japanese cartoon, it made sense,

Sadly, rice for breakfast meant one big thing, chopsticks. Jane had no idea how to use chopsticks, had never even picked a pair up, as thus neither should Akira know, right? The instincts had to be the same there.

Despite how awkward they felt in his hand, Akira powered on. Copying the other children who seemed to know what they were doing, Akira first started with his right hand. Then left to see if it might be easier, then came to the conclusion he was ambidextrous because neither was.

Thankfully, Akira caught on to using chopsticks rather easily. Maybe it was because of **Boy Genius** and it's **DEX** boost, maybe it was because 'Akira' had apparently been in the Naruto world for eight years. Either way, Akira was thankful he didn't make a fool of himself.

Still, it took about halfway through the meal for Akira to get comfortable enough with chopsticks to turn his focus away and not entirely drop them. All the while a small itch made him want to know whatever the skill he got was.

Opening the notification took a bit of effort. On one hand, it only required him to focus on the one. On the other hand, Akira had to continue eating like he wasn't looking at a bunch of imaginary -to everyone else- boxes.

**Skill Gained -**

**[ E - Rank ] Observe **

**Observe - Level (1) - To look at something with your eyes - 0 cp**

'**Observe**… of course it's **Observe**, what else would it be?' Akira mused, half amused and resisting the urge to roll his eyes. It was a pretty boring skill, but still somehow funny to him.

**Rice - A little undercooked but filling nonetheless**

Akira blinked, surprised having momentarily forgotten that thinking the skill made him use it. He hummed around his mouth full of rice. Now that he thought about it, the rice _did_ taste a little crunchy. Not too much, but noticeable.

The noisy screams and sounds of children faded to the background, Akira paying them no mind. He had something a bit more interesting to play with. Even if it was one of the most mundane skills in existence.

For the rest of the meal, Akira multitasked between eating, practicing using chopsticks -was that the same thing as eating?-, and using **Observe **on anything and everything he could.

**Chopsticks - A clearly used set of wooden chopsticks, best not to think of who used these before you**

**Wooden Table - An old, well worn wooden table**

**Wooden Bowl - It's cheaper than plastic, glass or metal, not that they can afford any other option**

**Mira Akiyama - Lv ? - Matron of Konohagakure Orphanage**

_***Ping***_

The noise wasn't very loud, but it surprised Akira nonetheless. About the same it would be if you were focused on something and the door creaked. In fact, Akira was so startled he dropped his rice.

Well, it's more accurate to say that Akira nearly dropped the rice. Why? Because by some act of god, he actually managed to catch the rice before it fell with his chopsticks. No, he doesn't really know how either.

_***Ping***_

No, Akira did not drop anything this time. No, no, of course not. Why would you ask? The previous sound totally prepared him for the next one. Of course it did. He did not drop his rice again, no siree.

Okay… maybe, just maybe he did. A couple of the other children who were particularly observant were giving him a cursory glance, like they noticed. They probably did. Akira just wasn't very good at hiding his reactions.

Yeah, he really needed to curb his reactions to these things if Akira wanted to stand any chance keeping this a secret. If five year olds noticed Akira acting oddly, ninjas definitely would. This wasn't going to be very easy.

'Hopefully they don't think I'm too weird' Akira prayed, actually wanting to make friends in this life. Jane's short attention span and lack of knowledge about social cues that stemmed from it left her friends count to be a steady… zero.

'It might be pretty fun being weird though,' was directly contrasting 'but I want friends,' causing an internal dilemma that Akira just kind of shoved into the back of his head to never see the light of day. So Akira turned his attention to the two new notifications.

***Level Up!* [Observe] Level 2!**

**You caught the rice in chopsticks! - + 1 DEX**

…'Already?' Akira was… well he was surprised. Not only has **Observe** already leveled up, but he already had another point in **DEX**. Sure, he was lower level. He didn't expect it to be so easy though.

'It's that easy?' Akira pondered, 'No, it's gotta be because I'm low level. This is gonna get harder to do the farther I go, like a lot of things in life.' Akira hummed around his mouthful of rise. Only a little proud of his conclusion.

_***Ping***_

**You figured out the Stat Mechanic - +1 INT, +1 WIS**

...Now that just felt like a freebie. If the game was sentient, it would almost feel like it was mocking him. 'This is way too easy though,' Akira would've anime sweatdropped if that was a thing that people could do in real life.

Breakfast finished not too long after that. This left Akira free to do basically whatever the hell he felt like doing. The ease he could walk off without anyone stopping him was astounding.

Apparently, being an orphan in Konohagakure meant you could basically wander wherever the hell you felt like with basically no adult supervision as long as you were back for lights out. It worked out in Akira's favour but just… damn.

There was a playground in a field behind the orphanage. That being said, it was more field than playground. Really the only playground equipment was a slide that looked like it would shank him and a tire swing who's rope Akira really didn't trust.

Children ages five and under didn't seem to be allowed to leave this playground without an adult. So Akira supposed that was a couple points for the orphanage. Not many though.

Said 'playground' wasn't of much interest to Akira. He didn't have any friends -yet- nor did he trust the equipment not to give him more pain than fun. So rather than play there he went where most kids his age went and exited through the front door.

Immediately after stepping out, Akira stepped on… something. 'Something' was about the only word for it. It didn't really look like much, and at first it didn't seem to do anything.

Light blue and slightly glowing, what looked to be a plate was smashed into the ground and had shattered like glass. Of course, that was _after_ Akira stepped on it. Maybe it looked more like a weird blue circle when it was whole? Probably.

_***Ping***_

A rush of wind nearly sent Akira off his feet but a few seconds after stepping on it, nearly. Thankfully, he caught himself before he fell and looked like an idiot. Damn, this really was going to take some getting used to.

'What did I step on anyway?' Akira turned his attention to the new notification. A one, green this time, stared back at him innocently.

**Location Found! [Konohagakure Orphanage]**

**\- A place where Naruto spent quite a few of his younger years, not very good years but hey, they were still years**

**0 / 1 Objective Found (0%)**

**\- 5 EXP gained**

Unlike the **EXP** from the tutorial, this **EXP** seemed to turn into five tiny blue orbs and soaked into him. Akira watched, mildly fascinated, as a light green bar came into view just under his **CP**. It filled up from halfway to about ¾ full before fading away.

'Must be my experience points,' Akira drew a reasonable conclusion. He started to walk again, then paused as something dawned on him. 'If I get experience points just from visiting locations important to the show…' A grin spread its way across Akira's face.

'Guess it's adventure time!' Akira almost laughed at his joke, then realized he probably shouldn't. Instead, he took off at a run down the street, grinning in a way that would be creepy on an adult but was cute on a child.

_***ping***_

_*Trip* Not again!_


	5. Chapter 5

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

Akira flopped to the ground, the epitome of grace and… nah, he flopped to the ground like a half dead starfish. Air seemed to leave his lungs too quickly, his legs burned. The cool grass felt really nice though.

He was currently laying on a grassy hill somewhere in Konoha, presumably near the middle. A large oak tree cast a shadow over Akira, sparing him from the sun because it felt too damn hot to be outside. Yet, here he was.

Children ran somewhere off to the side, playing some game or another and making no attempt to invite Akira. That was fine. Akira was tired and did not want to leave his nice cool spot.

Turns out, running around Konohagakure like a chicken with it's head cut off trying to find places with absolutely no sense of direction was actually rather tiring. Who knew? Akira does, now at least.

So that's why he was taking a break, and maybe a nap if Akira felt up to it. Nah, sleep was for the weak… then again, Jane was very weak.

Akira stared through the leaves of the oak tree, picking out clouds hiding amongst them. It wasn't the ideal spot for cloud watching but hey, to each their own. Not that Akira was necessarily looking at the clouds.

No, Akira was looking at something much _much_ more important… if a little embarrassing. Why? Because in the hours between breakfast and what looks to be noon now -Akira was bad at judging the sun so _bite him_\- he had only found two of the places he was searching for.

The first was,

**Location Found! [Hokage Tower]**

**\- The workplace of the grand hokage, do not piss off anyone who works here.**

**0 / 2 Objective found (0%)**

**\- 5 EXP**

To be fair, the tower was a bit of a freebie. Okay, the tower was a total freebie. It was only of, if not the tallest structure in Konohagakure. Being bright white and red didn't exactly hide it either. The main issue was figuring out which roads lead to it.

Stepping on the plate just outside it was a bit nerve wracking. Akira could've sworn he felt the guards giving him an odd look for getting too close. Or not, hard to tell.

The other one was,

**Location Found! [Konohagakure Ninja Academy]**

**\- A place where all aspiring ninja go to train, will you be the next big thing?**

**0 / 4 Objective Found (0%)**

**\- 5 EXP**

Admittedly, another freebie. Come on, it was a giant wooden structure surrounded by training fields and swarmed by kids even without class being in session. It took a bit longer to find though, likely because it was so squat.

Thankfully, stepping on the plate for this location didn't give him nearly as many looks. Tons and tons of aspiring ninjas were around the place every single day. One orphan giving it a look wasn't going to raise any suspicion.

Now, there were two more locations Akira was certain would be free **EXP **points. Hokage Monument was one, Ichiraku's Ramen was the other. There were several issues with both.

For Hokage Monument, while it was really easy to find and get to, the plate wasn't at the bottom of it. That meant it was either at the top or, if Akira was lucky, there was one for each head. However, Akira had no idea how to even get up there, so that was a bust.

The Ramen Shop was just being a pain in the ass to find. It made no sense to Akira as to why but there were no land markers he could remember from the show to help him find it.

'It's so important too! We see it practically whenever Naruto eats in Konoha, it's his favourite restaurant! Why is this place so hard to find?' Akira lamented, like the ramen shop was supposed to be a beacon. Who would've guessed a little mom and pop shop would be hard to find?

Thankfully, Akira got a few other things from his excursion that made his failure of finding much of use a lot more palatable.

**Skill Gained ! -**

**[ E - Rank ] Running - Level (1) - Run Run Run as Fast as you can - +10% movement speed - 0 cp**

Was what had caused him to trip earlier, it had leveled up and now read,

**[ E - Rank ] Running - Level (2) - Run Run Run as Fast as you can - +20% movement speed - 0 cp**

A big difference? No, but it was a difference and that's all that really mattered this early on. To Akira at least. It was a bit satisfying for him. The other notifications were as follows.

**Constant movement wears you down but you soldier on… kind of - + 1 VIT**

**Several Near misses make you more aware of your feet - + 1 DEX**

**Several Near misses make you more aware of your feet - + 1 DEX**

Akira's favourite notification had to be the last one though.

**Level Up**

**Player [Akira] is now Level [2]**

**Reward: (5) Stat Points- (1) perk point - (1) random item scroll**

**(Note: Perk points are distributed once every other level)**

Huffing, Akira would sigh if he had the air to, settling on watching his stamina bar slowly tick up. Was the haul from his four -maybe five? Hard to tell- hours of activity rather small? Yes. Did it feel worth the time and effort? Yes, yes it did.

'What time is it anyway?' Akira squinted up, as though he would suddenly gain super vision to see through the leaves and find the sun. 'Eh, it's probably noon, I've been out a while' Akira guessed, closing his eyes to feel the breeze.

'Right! My level up!' Deciding he didn't want to open his eyes just yet, Akira focused on bringing up the **Character** page. Thankfully, a supernatural game system that tosses him into an anime world transcends barriers as simple and weak as 'eyelids'.

**Title: Orphan**

**Name: Akira**

**Age: 8**

**Level: 2 (5%)**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Health - 104 / 104 **

**SP - 104 / 104**

**CP - 60 / 60**

**STR - 7**

**DEX - 10**

**VIT - 8 **

**INT - 9**

**WIS - 9**

**LUC - 6**

**CC - 7**

**Points to Allocate - 7**

**\- Perks - (1)**

**Boy Genius**

**Ooo! Pointy!**

'Wait, seven? But I only got five from leveling… Right! The Quest!' If Akira had the energy to facepalm, he would've. 'I'm an idiot!' which he was. No slightly higher **INT** stat would change that.

'Right, what to use them on…' Akira hummed, opening his eyes and sitting up. 'I should probably keep the five from leveling up, just in case something happens and I really do need them.' A smart idea.

One quick, basic math problem later, 'That leaves me with two to spend… Hmmm, if I'm going to be a swordsman then **DEX** is my best option, but I really like Ninjutsu and that's more of a **Int, Wis,** and **CC** thing…'

'**DEX** is my highest stat right now so it can stay, **LUC **is my lowest but I still don't see a use for it. **CC** is next lowest, tied with **STR**, and is actually pretty important to what I want to do in the future…'

'**CC** it is! I can always up my strength later or, hey, maybe find a way to pull a Sakura and copy Tsunade's titan strength thing.' Akira decided, allocating the two points into his **CC**, bringing up to a nice 9, perfectly even with his **INT** and **WIS**.

_***Ping!***_

**Thorough thinking is the best thinking! - +1 WIS**

'Or just with **INT,** I guess' Akira amended. Then he turned his decision to his lone perk point, deciding to deal with that next. Or at least he would've.

Tell me, if you spotted the human equivalent of a kicked puppy out of the corner of your eye, would you leave it to continue with a game that might just be insanity caused by death? If you would, congrats! You're an asshole.

Being a decent person, Akira turned his attention to the sad looking boy instead. Even without using **Observe**, it was easy to tell who Akira was looking at.

The blonde looked to be the same age as him, great for letting Akira know his current timeline, and was wearing white t-shirt with a red swirl that Akira read meant the Whirlpool something or other. His large blue eyes were depressingly sad. Even without the orange jumpsuit, the whisker marks and angry glares might as well have been a neon sign.

**Naruto Uzumaki - Level (3) - Kyuubi Jinchuuriki**

**Health: 100 / 100**

**SP: 200 / 200**

**CP: 3000 / 3000**

'So _that's_ what level two **Observe** looks like!' Akira noted, standing with minimal effort and a mostly full stamina bar. The **CP** was awfully high and the **SP** didn't seem linked to the **Health** bar like Akira's was but considering the kid's title, Akira wasn't surprised.

No matter, there were much more important things to do. Oddly enough, Naruto seemed almost content to hide behind his tree. Maybe his pranking thing hadn't developed until after he entered the academy?

As Akira approached, and Naruto noticed said approach, Akira's previous assumption was proved wrong. A smile so mischievous it couldn't belong to anyone _but_ a prankster was quickly plastered on the blonde's face.

"Hi! I'm Akira! What's your name?" Akira smiled, he figured it was best to do the polite approach. Naruto didn't seem to remember their first meeting either, nor did he recognize him if his expression of shock was anything to go by.

That _again_ brought back the question of when the hell they ever met. Naruto didn't seem to remember and Jane was in the void during their supposed meeting. Regardless.

"U-Uzumaki Naruto" Came the stammered reply, quickly followed by an almost suspicious, "Why are you talking to me?" It was rather sad that Naruto was already so surprised and suspicious about basic human kindness, Akira resolved to fix that.

Akira shrugged, rocking on his feet, "All the other kids have playmates," which was true, "and you seemed sad." Also true. Akira frowned, this village had to be full of idiots if they thought this sad bean of a person was going to be the one to kill them all.

Naruto didn't respond at first. In fact, it didn't seem he even knew how to respond. Those wide blue eyes just stared at Akira like he was suddenly going to go 'sike!' and start attacking him. Then, he smiled, wide and blinding.

"Wanna play ninjas?" The blonde asked, looking unsure of himself. His eyes shined up at him with happiness and a lot of expectation.

Two immediate thoughts came to Akira 'Huh, i'm taller than him' and 'Holy shit he's adorable'. Neither was much of a surprise and it's unsure even to Akira as to which thought came first.

"Of course!" Akira assured Naruto, who seemed to have taken Akira's momentary silence as immediate rejection. As though it was even possible to reject those eyes. Akira would rather die than make this human equivalent of the sun sad.

Naruto's smile returned full force, and if it wasn't the best thing Akira had seen all day he didn't know what was. "First one to find the other wins!" Naruto called excitedly, standing on his tippy toes to look Akira in his eyes.

This child was going to kill him, he was just so damn cute. How could anyone not like him? The village must be full of insane people, Akira concluded. How else was it possible to ruin this perfectly good child? They gave him anxiety.

**Quest Found!**

**[Let's Play Ninjas!]**

**\- Naruto wants you to play ninjas with him, have a good time!**

**Rewards: Friendship Points with [Naruto], EXP**

**[ Y ] / [ N ]**

'Not much of an award,' Akira thought, 'Naruto's friendship is enough though.' Even thinking logically, the power Naruto gets in the future is more than enough reason to befriend them. Akira's reason was more selfish, he didn't want the sunshine child to be sad.

"I'll go first!" Naruto claimed, turning towards the tree and starting to count. Akira practically sprinted in the other direction. From what little he knew, Ninjas was basically hide and seek tag. First things first, hide.

The park had many hiding spots, most were immediately obvious. Some trees and shrubs, what looked to be a play structure off to one side had the highest concentration of children. Akira decided to go the other way and went into the miniature forest that was used to make the park more private.

Funnily enough, Akira's attempts to look for a hiding spot set off **Observe** an awful lot. Maybe it's because the skill was so simple to activate, only requiring him to look intently at it. Maybe it was… no it was the first reason.

**Large Oak - A tall oak tree**

**Medium Bush - Not too big, not too small**

**Small shrub - Not only is too weak to be a bush, it's so weak it's small even compared to other shrubs**

**Large Bush - A large bush with spiky leaves, do not touch**

**Blackberry Bush - This shouldn't be in a park, not with all the thorns, why is this here?**

**Ivy - It crawls around the tree, strangling it in it's deathly grip**

**Hollow Tree - Termites have long since eaten away at this tree, leaving behind only the bark to be held up by ivy**

**Flower Bush - Pretty white and pink flowers dot this bush in spring**

_***Ping***_

Wait! Wait, wait, what? Go back. Akira took another look at the innocent, completely nondescript tree. It certainly didn't look hollow, in fact it looked perfectly healthy. Yet, according to **Observe** it was hollow.

Further inspecting the tree, Akira did find a small whole. If he was any large, he might not have fit in it. Thankfully, Akira was now a child and as thus could fit into the hole if he squeezed himself just right.

Ivy partially covered the entrance to the hole. The only way for Akira to be seen was if you knew the whole was there and was specifically looking for it.

Akira crouched inside the small space. It was safe to assume he didn't have to worry much about Naruto seeing him, so instead he focused on not being heard. Quieter breathing and focusing more on his hearing. Stuff like that.

_***Ping***_

'When did that clock show up?' Akira resolutely ignored the notification, now was not the time. Speaking of time, a clock was exactly the opposite of his health pool now

'It must have something to do with the quest… so it's how long I've been hiding? Only five seconds though? Naruto must've only just finished counting' Akira concluded.

Akira watched the clock, not having much to do while he waited. It was a bit boring but also somehow exciting whenever he heard something moving through the leaves. Wind rustling leaves would hide a person rustling them, at least to Akira's untrained ears.

Around the three minute mark, Akira got yet another notification. This, Akira also ignored. Four minutes and he was getting bored. Five and Akira decided to peak out of his hiding spot, just to see if Naruto was around.

It was a horrible decision, really. "SURPRISE!" Naruto cried, jumping down from somewhere above. Akira reacted immediately with Jane's two months of gymnastics training, diving away from prying hands.

Naruto landed feet first, like a cat or fox rather. Akira rolled to his feet and the tag portion of Ninjas began. The clock still ticked away resolutely in the corner but no longer could Akira pay it much attention.

What Akira quickly came to realize was that while he was certainly a bit faster than Naruto, Naruto's stamina dropped at a snail's pace compared to his own. If Akira hadn't known why then it might've been annoying.

Bolting through the trees, Akira had to get creative to stay out of arm's reach. With very minimal gymnastics knowledge he rolled, dodged, and jumped over obstacles. When he could, Akira would hide in bushes or other easily vacated spots to regain his stamina.

Even with all of his efforts, Naruto was relentless and Akira was losing ground. He just couldn't seem to shake the blonde. Naruto just kept coming and coming, tiring a lot slower than Akira was.

Still, Akira did manage fairly well for another three minutes, and subsequently three popups, before the blond managed to catch him. It was really only a matter of time, but good time.

Both parties panted, almost exhausted. Naruto had his arm secured around Akira's chest from when he jumped out at him.

Akira fell to the ground, his eyes falling shut. His stamina bar was practically empty and the desperate want for a nap from earlier was back. But Akira had a promise to keep and a quest to complete.

"Come one! It's your turn!" Akira opened his eyes to Naruto's waiting outstretched hand. A smile made from sunlight, god this kid was bright, aimed directly at him.

Giving Naruto a kind -but also rather tired- smile, Akira took the offered hand. Together, they made their way back to the starting tree. A rather nice conversation starting up between them.

Naruto made up most of the conversation, he was quite the chatterbox. Akira just nodded along, occasionally adding his own two cents. Somehow, it worked. Naruto had someone who would listen to him and Akira liked listening. Who knew one could have such an in depth conversation about ramen?

His reaction was hilarious when Naruto learned Akira had never had ramen before and immediately made Akira promise to go to Ichiraku's with him. Several more were also made by the time they got to the tree, Naruto was rather insistent about that. It was… nice.

"You count now!" Naruto chirped, practically vibrating in place in his excitement. Akira nodded, not having much to say, and faced the tree.

As soon as he did, Akira could almost feel Naruto taking off. Hopefully, the blonde would also realize the forest was a better place to hide. It would be harder for Akira but… well actually, hopefully Naruto wouldn't realize that.

One… 'I'm so not going to be able to catch him.'

Two…

Three… 'He has way too much stamina for me.'

Four…

Five… 'What if I surprised him?'

Six… 'He might not notice if I'm sneaky but how to find him?'

Seven… 'I could try and sense him, like Iruka?'

Eight…

Nine… 'Worth a shot'

Ten… Ready or not, here Akira comes.

Akira turned around, the trickster blonde nowhere in sight. Closing his eyes, Akira briefly realized he had no idea what he was looking for. So he just focused inwards, like a bastardized form of meditation, and hoped he found something.

Thankfully, finding a foreign substance in you is something your body is trained to do from birth. So finding chakra wasn't all too hard, it was getting a good grasp on it was the difficult part.

Chakra was slippery and kind of weird. Trying to get a hold of it was like holding water in your hands. Touching the chakra, it tasted rather plain -as odd as it sounds. There was just nothing special about it. It was extremely slippery.

Eventually, wasting about a minute, Akira managed to gather a small amount of his chakra. It was then Akira realized he had no idea how sensing worked. Just deciding to spread it out and see what happened, Akira took his chakra and _pushed_.

Immediately, his chakra shockwaved out around him, catching on other sources of chakra. Akira stumbled and almost fell in his surprise. Like lights in a sort of sixth sense, Akira could feel the group of children in the playground.

_***Ping***_

One very large chakra source stood out, practically a beacon of light amongst the others. It was very obvious as to where Naruto was, to Akira at least. Even when the lights faded, it was pretty easy to remember where it was.

'That worked?' Akira was stunned, he hadn't expected it to do anything. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, Akira hurried off in Naruto's direction.

Somewhere around some tulips, he lost track of the blonde. Akira knew he was somewhere around the area, it was exactly where that was the issue. So Akira did the sensing thing again. It was easier this time, but sent his **CP** down to 40.

Now know exactly where Naruto was, but not necessarily if the blonde was looking at him, Akira crept forward. Ever so silently, avoiding sticks and particularly crunchy leaves to remain as quiet as possible. Naruto didn't seem to notice.

After a few moments, a flash of blonde caught the corner of Akira's eye. Then **Observe **chose to make itself known.

**Large Bush - A particularly large bush, perfect for hide and seek**

'Thanks **Observe**' Akira though wearily, focusing on his sneaking. He crept closer and closer, all senses focused on his prey until Akira was practically touching the bush.

His muscles tensed, sensing narrowing. Then, all at once, Akira sprang into action. He darted forward, enclosing his arms around the blonde before he could react.

The sunshine child shrieked in surprise, flailing and sending both of them toppling forward. The two landed with an audible thud. Akira didn't even have to look at the clock to know he won by a landslide.

_***Ping***_

"I win," Akira said cheekily from atop Naruto. The blonde squirmed futility, pouting as he realized his loss. A soft whine escaped him. Akira rolled off Naruto, helping him up just as Naruto had done for Akira before.

"Yeah, but I'll win next time!" Naruto proclaimed at the top of his lungs. Akira flinched at the loudness but gave Naruto a cheeky grin nonetheless.

"I hear ya, Naru" Akira relaxed, smile only getting wider. Who couldn't smile when faced with this sunshine child? Akira hummed softly to himself, closing his eyes to enjoy the breeze that blew through. He didn't see Naruto flinch.

"Huh? What did you call me?" Akira opened his eyes, briefly confused as to why Naruto sounded so confused. Then he remembered that this world has been anything but nice to the blonde.

"Um… Naru?... Why? Do you not like it? I won't if that's the case. I… just thought it might be cute?" Akira knew he sounded unsure of himself but all of a sudden he felt kind of self conscious. Jane had never had many, if any, friends.

"It's fine!" Naruto quickly assured, Akira gave a relieved smile, "But only if I can call you… uh… Ki!" Akira blinked, tilting his head as he thought about it.

'Eh, could be worse,' Akira decided. "'Course you can call me that." Naruto perked up, cheering. Akira just smiled at his new friend. While Akira knew growing up again wouldn't be very fun, it was actually kind of nice to be a child again.

A loud growl rang through the clearing. "Ack!" Naruto clutched his stomach. Akira couldn't help himself, smothering his laughter with his hands. Naruto looked sheepish, cheek turning pink.

"I'm hungry!" Naruto declared, "Let's go to Ichiraku's!" Akira nodded, smiling so wide his cheeks hurt.

"Sure, I wanna see what you're so hyped up about." Akira teased, poking the blonde. Naruto squeaked and took off, dragging his new friend behind him.

_***Ping***_

Turning to his notifications for a moment, the number was getting pretty big and Akira knew he had to check on them eventually. Akira just let himself be dragged along. He knew Naruto wouldn't steer him wrong.

**Level Up! [Observe] - Level (3)**

**Skill Gained -**

**[ E - Rank ] Stealth - Level (1) - All sneaky peaky like - 4% change to not be found - -2% for every level higher than you**

**Level Up! [Stealth] - Level (2)**

**Level Up! [Stealth] - Level (3)**

**Level Up! [Running] - Level (3)**

**Level Up! [Running] - Level (4)**

**Constant movement makes one grow tired - +1 VIT**

**Constant evasion is good practice - +1 DEX**

**Skill Gained - **

**[D - Rank] Sensing - Level (1) - Create a map with your chakra - 90% chance of being detected - 10 cp**

**Quest Complete -**

**[Let's Play Ninjas!]**

**Rewards: Friendship Points with [Naruto], EXP**

**[Accept]**

**Quest Discovered -**

**[Ichiraku's Ramen Shop!]**

**\- You've been invited to Naruot's second favourite place in the village! Make a good first impression**

**Rewards: Friendship points with Naruto, EXP, ?, ?**

**[ Y ] / [ N ]**

Akira blinked, god that was a lot. Maybe he should've been checking them during the quest? It would've off set the load quite a bit. Either way, that was then and this is now. Stupid decisions are in the past.

Looking at Naruto, Akira couldn't help but smile. He accepted the quest and turned his attention to the real world, he had important things to do.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay… so… just to clear the air, Akira wasn't expecting much of anything to happen when he decided to become Naruto's friend. He entered the friend zone without absolutely zero expectations… yet was still surprised by what he found.

Whatever expectations Akira might've been secretly hoarding in the back of his head without his knowledge were… well… unclear. Akira didn't really know what he was expecting, if anything. Somehow, this wasn't it.

Honestly, Akira was really expecting any repercussions for befriending Naruto. Generally, Jane didn't expect repercussions from friendship in general. Yet, still there he was, experiencing said repercussions.

Some way into Naruto dragging Akira through Konoha, it struck him as to exactly _why_ being friends with Naruto was going to be… difficult to say the least. The main reason being the most obvious, he's the Kyuubi _fucking_ Jinchurriki.

From the moment Jane first watched Naruto and how the villagers treated him for something he couldn't even control, she knew it was a town full of bigots and skeptics. So, really, this shouldn't have been a surprise. But it was Jane, so of course it was.

All around the two kids, children -_actual eight year olds_\- grown adults glared at them as though they were the worst scum on the earth. That's right, not just Naruto but Akira too. The proximity hatred was that strong. It didn't make any sense.

Being subject to such murderous glares made the little kid in Akira more than a little nervous, what did he do to deserve this? Hell, they even made the grown ass adult _Jane_ in Akira nervous. She felt like if she was left alone in an alley for more than a few minutes she was going to die, likely by one of the crowd's hands.

The above only made Akira clutch his blonde sort-of-friend's hand harder in both a show of silent support for Naruto and a way to make himself feel safer. Akira walked as close as possible without getting in the way.

While resolutely ignoring the villagers helped a little, being physically closer to the blonde just made the whole situation better. Akira didn't quite know _why_ but if it helped he would do it.

Yet in a way being closer to the blond just made everything worse. Or maybe his proximity with the blonde had nothing to do with it and it was all in Akira's head. The last bit was unlikely though. He knew the villagers were going to despise him by the end of the day.

It was almost funny in a way. Akira could practically hear his relationship with Konohagakure dropping like a brick… no… no it wasn't funny, that's just Akira trying to make himself feel better with little to no success.

Did Akira even know what he was talking about at this point? Ah, no, not really. The train of thought was helping him not freak out though so let's continue with that. No matter how much he'd rather just not deal with it in the first place.

There's no surprise that Akira felt like buckling under the pressure of the villagers' murderous glares. A lot of people would and if it wasn't for **Gamer's Mind** Akira would be one of those people. Even with his skill, all Akira wanted to do was turn around as ask them '_Why? What did I do?'_ or, better yet, cry.

Was this what Naruto had to deal with on a day to day basis? How? He couldn't just not know what was going on. Akira was only of the most oblivious people on earth and even _he_ could practically feel-

_***Ping***_

Nevermind, make that _literally_ feel the weight of their imaginary knives burrowing through his skin. Also, no, Akira wasn't going to look at that notification. He knew perfectly well what it was for, he could feel the effects of it perfectly well thank you very much!

'Jesus! What kind of horrible person wants to murder an eight-year-old for existing?' Akira puzzled silently. He wanted to scream at them, reprimand them, do _anything_ for feeling so much hatred towards someone who didn't deserve it.

Being as he was though, Akira knew he couldn't. If his ire drew a mob he would surely be trampled. So Akira restrained himself to a quiet growl and the thoughts in his head. He couldn't lash out no matter how much he really, really wanted to.

Of course, Akira had known how the village felt about Naruto. Literally every piece of related media Jane consumed showed their hatred for the sunshine child. Yet experiencing the force of their ferocity, if only in glares, was still mind boggling.

Akira pulled closer, 'There goes any chance for a decent reputation with these people,' Akira lamented. Then again, seeing them act this way made Akira wonder if they were even worthy of having a decent reputation with in the first place.

No, no, it probably was. Akira knew Naruto was likely overcharged for less than pristine goods and Akira couldn't afford that. If having a good reputation meant getting discounts then he would find a way to get one. He glanced at Naruto. 'Just so long as I don't abandon him' Akira amended.

The feeling was slowly leaving his fingers, Akira noted. He didn't expect such a tight grip from the blonde. Combining that with Naruto's puppy dog eyes and excitement, Akira didn't think he could leave even if she wanted to.

A smile pulled at Akira's lips. Naruto really was adorable, unfairly adorable really. Somehow, he was so sweet that he's setting off motherly instincts Jane didn't even know she had in the first place.

Really, how was Akira even supposed to _think_ about saying 'no' to Naruto when he was just so… Naruto. It just wasn't fair!

His smile fell off his face and Akira flinched, a particularly angry villager giving him an angry glare. The woman beside him, presumably his wife, gave the pair a cold side eye. It was such a weird experience.

Naruto turned slightly, having apparently felt his flinch, and gave Akira a worried look. Akira did his best to give a reassuring smile, not quite sure how well he succeeded with that. Akira gave a soft shake of his head, silently communicating 'It's fine'.

Which he was fine, perfectly fine. There was nothing wrong with Akira, he was just a little nervous and not used to such attention. Not that it was going to stop Naruto from worrying. Akira knew Naruto -or rather the one from the show- well enough to tell.

Upon seeing Ichiraku's Ramen Shop for the first time, Akira immediately wondered how he missed it. That's not to say it was impossible to miss. it wasn't that big, it didn't have to be. There were a few barstools, green banners blocking direct sight of them hung from above, but that was about it.

Still, it was the only Ramen bar that faced towards the plaza. If that wasn't immediately noticeable then the large white banner with 'Ichiraku's Ramen' emboldened on it in bright red was.

The advertisement mocked Akira and his obliviousness, as did the fact that there was no free **EXP** plate. Akira gave himself a small amount of leeway though. At a first glance, the blinds made it look like the place was closed.

Akira shuffled nervously into the stall, hanging behind Naruto. Immediately after entering, a delicious smell hit him. It seemed to be emanating from the kitchen. Then again, where else would it come from.

Naruto bounded up onto his stool with a seemingly practiced motion. Sure, he almost fell off the stool but there was no difficulty to the movement. It took Akira a bit longer. The stool was practically the same height as him.

"Two miso ramen, one pork ramen, and one beef ramen!" Naruto cheered loudly, drawing two people from the back of the store. The first was an older gentleman with gray hair and soft looking eyes. Well earned smile lines adorned his mouth and crinkled his eyes.

**Teuchi Ichiraku - Level (20) - The Ramen God**

**Health: 200 / 200**

**SP: 100 / 100**

**CP: 65 / 65**

'Knew it,' Akira smiled at the man, but mostly at his title, 'Surely his ramen isn't _that_ good?' The jovial man strode over, given Naruto a friendly wave and a kind smile.

"Naruto!" Untold warmth colored his voice, "Coming right up! How have you been doing?" Akira's smile softened. He could tell Teuchi actually cared for Naruto. That was good, at least the sunshine child had some reprieve from the constant anger around him.

The man took out a pad of paper, scrawling down Naruto's order and passing it to the other woman, who disappeared behind the counter. What was her name again? Ayano, Ari- Mariachi… wait no that's a type of music… Ay… Ayame? Something like that.

"Amazing!" Naruto chirped, throwing his hands up, "I've been having loads of fun and stuff!" Sunshine child gave the same grin that Akira remembered from the show. It was bright, full of joy, like an untouched ray of sunshine.

"Naruto! Order's up! Here's the first one." A woman with dark brown, tied back hair walked out of the kitchen. Carefully balanced in her hands was a steaming bowl of… some sort of ramen. Which kind? Who knows and who cares. Not Akira, that's for sure.

Akira watched the new girl, who noticed him in turn. "Who's your friend?" She asked Naruto, who was already chowing down on his Ramen.

"Mmh? O' dis 'Ki" Naruto spoke around a mouthful of ramen. The rate in which he could stuff himself was almost disgusting, but also impressive somehow.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, Naru-Chan" Akira corrected almost absent-mindedly. He was surprised at himself for the admonishment. Jane had thought she had grown out of that reflex after she moved out.

Naruto flushed, swallowing. "Oh, right, sorry." the blonde twittered, embarrassed. It didn't last long though, the sunshine child returning to his meal with vigor.

Akira turned away, blushing as he realized his immediate impression was probably 'mom friend' now. He spared a glance at… he wasn't going to guess in case he got it wrong… who just seemed a bit surprised.

"I'm Akira, it's nice to meet you!" Akira attempted to give her a smile but it fell a little flat in his embarrassment. Or at least it fell short to him. He wasn't really sure how the lady felt about it.

She didn't say anything, smiling back. "I'm Ichiraku Ayame," her smile grew sharper, "So," Akira flinched at the strength behind that one word, "how did you two become friends?" It was phrased innocently. Somehow, Akira still felt if he answered wrong was going to die and no one would find his body.

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

Wait, what,

**Ayame Ichiraku - Level (15) - Supreme Protector of Blondes**

**Health: 200 / 200**

**SP: 200 / 200**

**CP: 75 / 75**

_***Ping***_

'Okay… that explains it…' Akira thought, his smile turning nervous, 'Why is the ramen lady so scary? What does she want from me? The truth? Probably the truth' Akira let of a soft laugh, scratching at his arm.

"It's nothing special really," Akira assured absolutely nobody except maybe himself, "I was just laying on the grass relaxing, none of the other kids really wanted to play with me you see. I just kind of turned to the right and oh, there he was. A sad looking blonde kid. He was just so sad and adorable and something adorable shouldn't be so sad. I couldn't let that slide, no no not at all."

Akira was aware he might be rambling at this point, "So I decided to go say hi. He asked to play with me and it sounded like fun so I said yes. We had a lot of fun talking and playing ninja. I, uh, it was brought up that I've never had ramen before so… um… here we are?" The last bit almost sounded like a question to even Akira's ears.

For a moment the pretty, scary, overprotective ramen shop worker that was Ayame studied him. It did not help Akira's anxiety. Then, like magic, all of the scary stuff just disappeared. This too did not help Akira's anxiety.

Ayame smiled, almost pleasant now that the threatening Akira's life bit was over. "How cute!" Now Akira felt patronized, "What can I get for you?" Ayame brandished a pen and paper from basically no where -or her pockets, one of the two.

Wow, that whiplash… Akira could've sworn Ayame must've pulled a muscle from how quick that turn around was. Akira just blinked stupidly at first. "Uh, miso ramen please?" Naruto had ordered two of those, and was halfway finished with his second, so Akira guessed they had to be pretty good.

Speaking of Naruto, Akira turned towards his friend. 'Hm? What's with the blush?' The blonde was staring at Akira with nothing short of surprise. Which was odd, why would he be blushing? And what had he said that was so surprising?

_***Ping***_

Also, the game was annoying. What the hell was that for? All he'd been doing was sitting and talking to Naruto and Ayame. He certainly hadn't done anything to warrant the game stepping in.

Oh well, there was nothing he could do about that now. Akira smiled at his friend and turned to look… when did that ramen get there? He glanced at the Ichirakus, what kind of ninja bullshit was this? It was either that or Akira was more oblivious than even he was aware of.

Mildly confused still, Akira began slurping his ramen up. 'Huh, not bad,' it was an odd taste. Especially since Jane was used to hamburgers and kentucky fried chicken but it was actually pretty good. She'd still prefer a pizza though. Maybe she could make a pizza?

"You…" At the hesitant voice, Akira turned towards his friend, "you think i'm… adorable?" That was new. Well, no it's not. Naruto seemed to be hesitant towards a lot of things concerning friendship, why would compliments be any different.

Swallowing, Akira replied "Well, yeah… You have these big blue eyes and cute whisker marks on your cheeks. You actually kind of remind me of a kitten or baby fox," Out of the corner of his eye, Akira noticed Ayame and Teuchi flinch at 'baby fox'.

Akira knew why so he just ignored them for now. Naruto had finished his four bowls of ramen by now, which was a little ridiculous. Akira was only half finished and he was practically full!

"Why? I'm your friend, haven't your friends ever called you cute before?" Akira meant it innocently. Yet about half a second after he said it he realized, no they wouldn't have. Naruto didn't have any childhood friends in the show.

"Um… no… not really… your…" Naruto mumbled off, playing with his hands. The blonde looked down, hair obscuring his eyes. Akira never thought he'd see this in person but Naruto almost looked… shy.

"Sorry Naru, didn't quite catch that." Akira poked his friend's whiskered cheeks. Half of it was comfort -if it was taken that way- but the much larger part of Akira just wanted to feel those whiskers. Turns out, they're really just birthmarks.

"Your my…" Naruto started, louder this time, but faded before Akira could hear the rest. Seriously, who was this? Hinata? Akira gave a soft smile. But seriously, how much had changed in four years?

"One more time Naru, I'm not a ninja yet" teased Akira, grinning. Yes, he was planning on becoming a ninja. How else would he change the storyline? Furthermore, name one fan of the show who didn't want to become a ninja.

"You're going to be a ninja! Me too!" Naruto spoke abruptly. Akira accepted the change of subject, for now. Even if it clearly had nothing to do with what he was previously saying.

"Of course I am!" Akira faked being offended, "How else would I be able to protect you?" Ah fuck, his mouth get the better of him again. Abort abort, mission failed, we'll get him next time.

Naruto clearly didn't seem to expect that either, which didn't make Akira feel much better. "Protect me?" He sounded confused. The Ichirakus, who were clearly eavesdropping to keep an eye on Naruto, were also surprised.

"Uh," Hello embarrassment my old friend, "well, yeah. I want to become strong enough to protect my friends, you're my friend, so why wouldn't I want to protect you?" Akira's reasoning sounded weak, even to him. It was kind of true, but still.

It's not like Akira could admit the actual truth. What was he supposed to say? 'I'm from another universe and know the future and I want to prevent that by protecting you and other key players'? Like that would go well.

Best case scenario, he wasn't thrown into this world's version of an insane asylum but he'd be forced to tell what he knew of the future. With said future including people like Pein, Orochimaru, Madara the false prophet? Well, if just claiming he knew the future didn't get him thrown away, that would.

Honestly, Akira wouldn't blame them. If he wasn't from another world, he wouldn't believe it either. No one expects a tragedy, let alone one so massive it practically wipes out Konoha and starts another world war. No one would believe him until it was far too late.

"Well," Naruto seemed to regain his steam,"then I'm going to become strong enough to protect you too! And Ayame Chan and Teuchi and Old Man Hokage!" Naruto proclaimed, "No matter what it takes!"

Akira couldn't help but stare at the blonde. That sounded awfully familiar… wait 'That's his Nindo,' Akira realized, 'Didn't he only get that after he encountered Haku?' Akira hadn't expected to change the story so soon, let alone be the one to inspire Naruto's ninja way.

'I think it's a good thing' Akira decided. "That's exactly what I mean! What good is strength if you're not using it to protect people? The ones you love?" Akira smiled, feeling something akin to a proud parent.

Something warm filled the air. Everyone in the ramen bar felt it. For a moment, it just hung there, lingering. Akira didn't notice it but everyone else did. No one wanted to break the moment.

Then, as soon as it came it was gone. Naruto smiled, a bit shaky but with a quality to it that ringed truer than all the others. Akira turned to his ramen again, this time able to finish it in peace. No one bothered him. The Ichirakus now feel like he was 'safe'.

Quiet fell on the shop, a not quite silence punctuated by the sounds of cooking from the back. Not even Naruto broke it, not feeling the need to make noise. Wasn't that a rarity? Perhaps it was because of the peacefulness of Akira's words that no one wanted to break.

Outside the ramen shop, Naruto finally spoke. "So, uh," Naruto looked around the plaza, not quite sure what to say. He had almost no experience with starting conversations that weren't about ramen. Maybe something about ninjas?

Watching his friend made Akira realize something. 'Maybe Naruto likes this place because of the lack of people?' It was only a little after lunch yet practically no one was around. Akira considered it for a moment, but only for a moment.

"You were saying something earlier, but I couldn't hear you. What were you going to say?" Akira asked, curious. He didn't know much that was able to calm Naruto down, much less make him again, that was Show-Naruto. This Naruto was proving to be much different.

"Right!" Naruto jolted, as if only just remembering, "I was going to say…" He trailed off, looking to the sky like it might grant him courage. "...You're my first friend!" Naruto finished a bit loudly, stopping his walk and looking down.

Akira stopped two, both standing in the middle of the plaza. That was it? Akira couldn't help but laugh. "That's it? Why were you so worked up about it? You're my first friend too silly!" Akira giggled. So maybe not all of the little girl in him was gone, bit him… her? Never mind, ignoring that.

Naruto sighed, visibly relaxing. Then he seemed to realize something, "Does that make you my best friend?" the sunshine child asked, looking hopeful. He tilted his head, cute eyes wide in a way that made Akira's heart explode in a way it hadn't since Jane learned of blanket burrito kittens.

"Of course!" Akira jumped at the chance, "forever and ever!" He cheered. Then a thought occurred to him… did either of them pay the Ichirakus? He jolted, looking back at the Ramen bar.

"We didn't pay them," Akira felt his heart drop, he didn't have any money. How was he supposed to pay them? He had to pay them, it wasn't like they were giving it away for free.

"Oh! Ayame-chan said it was 'on the house', something about a special occasion or first time discount or something like that" Naruto waved it off. This time, assuring Akira.

"Oh, Okay," Akira sighed, already making plans to pay them back when he could, "Anyway, Best Friends?" Akira held his fist out of a fist bump.

Naruto smiled so excitedly and so bright Akira felt it could light New York for months. This sad child, so lonely yet so bright. 'Little kids are so adorable!' Akira squealed internally.

"Best friends!" Naruto chirped, giving in to the fist bump. Then, the blonde threw his arm around the blackette. Akira stumbled at the sudden weight. "Let's play tomorrow too!"

"No duh!" Akira scoffed, feeling just as cheerful as Naruto looked. Sunshine child darted off, tossing a goodbye and a wave over his shoulder as he hurried home. Or at least Akira assumed he was hurrying home. To the Hokage to tell him of his new friend was also a possibility.

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

'Aright, alright, I'm paying attention now.' Akira began walking back to the park so he could then find his way to the orphanage. Or rather, he let his body instinctively walk as Akira paid attention to other things. It was a skill Jane had well developed in her last life. 'Let's see it then'.

**Skill Gained- **

**[ E -Rank ] Sense Killing Intent - Level (1)**

**\- When people hate you, you feel it - Sense danger up to 10 ft - 4 % chance to know where from **

**Level Up! [Sense Killing Intent] - Level (2)**

**Level Up! [Sense Killing Intent] - Level (3)**

**Level Up! [Sense Killing Intent] - Level (4)**

**Skill Gained-**

**[ E-Rank ] Charisma - Level (1)**

**\- People like you more for some reason - 5% relationship point gain**

**Quest Complete -**

**[Ichiraku's Ramen Shop]**

**Rewards: Friendship points with [Naruto], EXP, (1) D-Rank Skill Scroll, (15) Yen**

**[Accept]**

**Bonus Objective [Ichiraku's Ramen Shop] Complete -**

**Rewards: [Best Friends] status with [Naruto], [Like] status with [Ichiraku's Ramen Shop], (1) perk point**

**[Accept]**

'Two skills? I guess sensing Ki isn't too bad but **Charisma**? Maybe if I plan to be a great leader it will be useful. Those guys need a lot of charisma'

**For finding use in a seemingly useless skill - +1 WIS**

'Still shockingly easy,' Akira sighed, 'It's probably just because I lowered the difficulty. Or maybe just because I'm still only level two?' Not wanting to get a headache, Akira just accepted the quests to be done with it.

**Recurring Quest Found -**

**[Playtime with Naruto]**

**\- Naruto wants you play with you tomorrow**

**Rewards: Relationship Points with [Naruto], EXP, 1 random point**

'Hmm, I wonder what the scroll does? Is it any **D-Rank** jutsu or what?' Akira pondered, slowly turning from the park towards the orphanage. When had he reached it? The sun was slowly going down, he'd probably make it back for dinner at this pace.

'I'll use it later, I still have a perk point left to use.' Akira called up his **Character** sheet.

**Title: Orphan**

**Name: Akira**

**Age: 8**

**Level: 2 (5%)**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Health - 104 / 104 **

**SP - 104 / 104**

**CP - 60 / 60**

**STR - 7**

**DEX - 11**

**VIT - 9 (Every even number add 2 points to sp & hp)**

**INT - 9**

**WIS - 10**

**LUC - 6**

**CC - 9**

**Points to Allocate - 5**

**\- Perks - (2)**

**Boy Genius**

**Ooo! Pointy!**

'Wait, two?' Akira blinked, confused, 'right! The bonus objectives!' He hummed, focusing on the **Perks**. A list of perks was pulled up, just like before but smaller. This one only contained perks he could buy.

**Points: 2**

**Perk Options:**

**Fire Affinity - 50% less chakra fire jutsu (1)**

**Water Affinity - 50% less chakra water jutsu (1) **

**Wind Affinity - 50% less chakra wind jutsu (1)**

**Earth Affinity - 50% less chakra earth jutsu (1)**

**Lightning Affinity - 50% less chakra lightning jutsu (1)**

**Get Over Here! - 10% gain to STR - VIT - Taijutsu (1)**

**Stay Away! - +10% to CC - Dex - Shurikenjutsu (1)**

**White Knight - +10% to CC - Medical Jutsu - WIS - DEX (2)**

**Lucky Bastard - +20% LUC (2)**

**S.P.E.C.I.A.L - Gain Extra Points as you level (2) (rebuyable)**

**I Am Rubber! - +20% DEX (1)**

**Foxy! - Gain a fox familiar - Extra Chakra (1) Unlocked by reaching [Best Friends] With Naruto Uzumaki**

**Ninjutsu Prodigy - 30% gain to all Ninjutsu skills (3)**

**Taijutsu Prodigy - 30% gain to all Taijutsu skills (3)**

**Genjutsu Prodigy - 30% gain to all Genjutsu skills (3)**

**The Pen is Mightier than the Sword - 30% gain to all Fuuinjutsu skills (3)**

**The Sword Disagrees with the Pen - 30% gain to all Kenjutsu skills (3)**

**May the Chakra Be With You - +30% gain to CC, -10% jutsu costs (2)**

'Oh my god, **Foxy!**' Akira suppressed a snicker. It was very apt for the perk but absolutely hilarious when he considered how he got it.

'God, there are so many choices to choose from. I don't know how to pick!' Akira hummed, '**I am Rubber!** seems fun… but **Foxy! **is just too good to give up. I could probably do Inuzuka techniques with the fox and my chakra is low as far as I know… hmm'

'Maybe an affinity for the other one? Just to make sure I have one… wind is neat but there aren't many people here who could teach me it. Earth is too inflexible for my tastes… so water or fire?' Akira tossed the two around for a bit before he came to a conclusion.

'Fire and a sword sound cooler than water and a sword' Akira confirmed his choices as **Foxy! **and **Fire Affinity** before closing down the screen. He could always go back and get the other ones if he ever feels like it.

'Foxes are absolutely adorable too, I wonder when I'll meet them?' Akira hummed a happy tune, picking up his pace with a skip. Akira just couldn't help but be excited, for his future familiar, future as a ninja, and future playdates with Naruto. It was all so exciting!

After all, if Akira _wasn't_ excited about the future then he'd start thinking about… other things… and if he started thinking about those things? Well… Akira didn't know what he'd do.

**I am still looking for and accepting perk ideas!**

**Seriously, if you have an idea for one (and it can be anything) just send it in! I'll accept practically anything for my list.**

**Hope you're all enjoying the story! - Color**


	7. Chapter 7

The week passed in a blur of fun and discovery. **EXP** was gained, memories were made, and the same quest was repeated over and over again. So while repetitive, it wasn't boring.

During said week, Akira didn't really think much about training for the quickly approaching ninja academy. Seriously, it was a week away and Akira didn't really think to prepare in the slightest. Instead, his days were filled with playing ninja and getting to know his new best friend.

Sure, he did get **EXP**, a level, and some stat and skill increases out of the week but did that really count as training? It's not as though Akira was doing it purely for the **EXP**. Really, it was just a happy side effect.

Most of his stats raised up by at least one point. **STR** from climbing trees, **DEX** and **VIT** from playing ninja, **INT** from taking a test to see who knew more about ninjas -which Akira won in a landslide, surprise surprise,- **WIS** by making good decisions -and more so stopping Naruto from making bad ones-.

**LUC **and **CC** didn't get raised at all, likely because Akira had no idea how to train the first and felt like he would snap his neck trying to do tree walking on his own. So really, there was nothing Akira could do about it.

One thing that was kind of frustrating during the week was the 'one random point' part of Naruto's recurring quest. Between all seven days, Akira didn't get a single perk point. Just seven stat points from the daily quest.

While frustrating, it held nothing on the fact that despite Akira keeping an eye out for them, **Foxy!**'s promise of a fox familiar never bear any fruit. He knew he-she-them, whichever, was supposed to be somewhere, but where?

Ah, well at least he did get a few things during the week. Akira's stats were now as following,

**Title: Orphan**

**Name: Akira**

**Age: 8**

**Level: 3 (15%)**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

**Health - 106 / 106 **

**SP - 106 / 106**

**CP - 100 / 100**

**STR - 9**

**DEX - 15**

**VIT - 11 (Every even number add 2 points to sp & hp)**

**INT - 10**

**WIS - 13**

**LUC - 6**

**CC - 9**

**Points to Allocate - 17**

**\- Perks - (0)**

**Boy Genius**

**Ooo! Pointy!**

**Foxy!**

**Fire Affinity**

Which looked great for Akira, he thought he was about average overall now. Maybe a bit below average in **STR** and a bit above average in **DEX**.

Most of Akira's skills had also levelled up in the meantime.

**E - Rank**

**Stealth - Level (5) - All sneaky peaky like - 12 % chance to hide successfully - -2% for every level higher than you **

**Sense Killing Intent - Level (8) - When people hate you, you feel it - Sense danger up to 22 ft - 18 % chance to know where from**

**Charisma - Level (2) - Gain Relationship status faster **

**Running - Level (6) - Run Run Run as fast as you can - 60% movement speed**

**Observe - Level (5) - To focus on something with your eyes - Level of those five levels higher than you - hp - sp - cp - titles - affiliation**

**\- D - Rank -**

**Sensing - Level (2) - Create a map with your chakra - 85% chance of being discovered - 10 cp per use**

All in all, Akira was feeling pretty good. His good mood even seemed to be inspiring Naruto. Despite the fact that Akira tended to beat Naruto in most things, the sunshine child took it in stride. His blonde friend often proclaimed that he would one day beat Akira.

It was perfectly possible that Naruto would one day beat Akira. Actually, Akira knew for a fact that Naruto would one day surpass everyone in the village. It gave him quite a bit more confidence when he told Naruto he believed in him.

Naruto, whose dreams were often laughed off by most others, was ecstatic to have someone actually tell him that he could do it. This led Akira and Naruto to become close friends.

Subsequently, Naruto and his situation also led down a rabbit hole where most civilians seemed to dislike him at a first glance. Thankfully, his orphan status stopped this from becoming too much of a problem as they just assumed he 'didn't know any better'. It was annoying as hell but Akira held out.

Come the day of the Academy Orientation however and Akira wasn't paying any attention. Well, that's a lie. He was paying attention, just not at what he should be. Mainly, the hokage's speech about… actually he didn't know. The will of fire or something, probably.

Instead, Akira was focused on something he found much more interesting. That being the Hokage's stats, or rather lack thereof.

**Hiruzen Sarutobi - Level (?) - God of Shinobi**

**Health: ? / ?**

**SP: ? / ?**

**CP: ? / ?**

**Affiliation: Konohagakure**

Really, the affiliation bit felt unneeded to Akira. While he'd only binged the show once, Akira prided himself on knowing useless facts that would never attribute to anything in real life. As thus, he could likely name the affiliation of every ninja in the show and their mother.

Yeah, Jane really did have the best and worst memory at the same time. Now, if only she could recall a single thing from math class, that would be much better. Alas, math wouldn't help much right now.

Akira's attention was suddenly and forcefully dragged back into reality by one (1) very excitable blonde. If Naruto was excited on a regular day, now he looked like a toddler on a sugar high.

"We're going to be ninjas! Believe it!" Naruto cheered, his smile looked a lot like the one in the show. It seemed a bit forced compared to the ones Akira saw when it was just them. The tons of glitter in Naruto's eyes spoke for itself though. Naruto was very happy.

"Of course we are! And you're going to be one of the best!" Akira spoke in a rather off-handed tone, taking Naruto's hands in his own and tossing them in the air. What can he say? Both Akira and Jane were excited for very good reasons.

Just like just about everything Akira said to Naruto, it gave the blonde a pause. It was definitely less of a pause then when the two first became friends though. Good, they were getting somewhere.

"Yeah," Naruto responded, quieter than before. There was that smile Akira was looking for. Bright and cheery but also smaller yet somehow truer. It was Akira's favourite expression for Naruto. The smile made him look even cuter, if that was even possible.

A teacher spoke up and started calling out group names. It wasn't Iruka so Akira didn't care much for who they were. Was that going to stop him? No, **Observe**.

**Miroku Jirou - Level (?) - Chunnin Instructor**

**Health - 210 / 210**

**SP: 200 / 200**

**CP: 300 / 300**

**Affiliation - Konohagakure**

'So no one important' Akira decided, tuning him out. He still paid just enough attention to catch Naruto's name, or his when it was called. He needed to know if they were going to be in the same class.

"Class B! Shino Aburmae, Choji Akimichi…" Okay, that sounds like the graduating class from the show, Akira decided. He wondered for a moment why it wasn't class A, then decided he didn't care. "Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki."

"With Sensei Iruka Umino" Miroku finished, gesturing to the side. 'So Naruto is with them' Akira pouted, knowing he wasn't going to be classmates with Naruto. 'What's with the whole Class A, B, and C thing anyway? I don't remember anything like that from the show.'

Akira turned his attention to Iruka, 'then again, the show never does mention much of what happens during Naruto's academy years. It could just be how the system works'. **Observe**

**Iruka Umino - Level (?) - Chunnin Instructor**

**Health - 180 / 180**

**SP - 180 / 180**

**CP - 300 / 300**

**Affiliation - Konohagakure**

"N'awww, you aren't in my class Ki" Naruto pouted, sagging. He still held a certain tenseness to his shoulders. It was the same one that happened whenever somehow tried to steer Akira away from being friends with Naruto.

"Don't worry so much Naru-Chan! We can play after!" Akira grinned, softly reassuring, "Now get going, your class is leaving without you." Akira pushed his friend, gesturing to the kiddie versions of the characters Akira knew sort of well.

Naruto started, bounding off towards the line up. "See ya Ki-Chan!" Naurto cried over his shoulder, tossing a wave in as well. He popped into the line just as Iruka started his head count.

Many of the parents turned to glare at him as he passed, some even following his gaze to stare daggers into Akira. Some didn't glare at Akira. Instead, they gave him looks of what almost seemed to be pity.

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

'At this rate, Zabuza won't affect me in the slightest' Akira sighed, already depressingly used to the situation. It was probably no wonder that Nartuo acted more angry than afraid when he met the guy. Naruto was already too used to people wanting to murder him.

'And here I am, joining him in the ranks of children receiving death threats' If Akira could sweatdrop he would've. It really is insane how blind and stupid some people could be. If you put a gun in a letter would you call the letter dangerous? Hell no.

Or was it that scroll and kunai thing that Akira heard so much about? Nah, Akira liked his version better, it made so much more sense to him. Probably not to anyone else. Who cares about them though?

"Class C!" Miruku began again, briefly catching Akira's attention. He was a nondescript man with pale skin. The teaching life had obviously got to him as he looked a bit heavy for his body type. The only interesting thing about him was a scar that ran horizontal down his cheek, just missing his eye, and a similar one above his opposite eye.

Akira tuned him out asMiruku started listing a bunch of names he couldn't care less about. That is until, "Shizuko, Jian Lee, Akira, Zen Takahashi" Akira looked up, the man went on for a few more names.

"I'll be your sensei! Come with me!" With that, Miruku walked off the stage. His class wasn't all too large, Akira noticed as he lined up with the others. Akira's class had maybe 15 students, Class B had 20 and was mostly heirs, while Class A had around 35 students.

'Wonder why it's like that?' Akira didn't remember much about separate classes in the anime. All he knew was there had to be a reason for it. Naruto's graduating class had more than 20 students pass but there were less than that in Class B, which most resembled said graduation.

It was weird, downright confusing really, and kept him puzzling rather than paying attention to the teacher. It wasn't like Jirou was going to say anything important, right? Nothing that Akira didn't already know… right?

Eventually, the class stopped walking. Akira didn't quite remember when they started walking but he definitely remembered stopping. Mainly because he bumped into a little girl who was much smaller than him, about 4 feet even, and with white hair, _white hair_.

Akira was well aware that unimportant people tended to have bland hair colors. All the background characters in the show had brown or not quite black hair. He certainly didn't remember many with white hair though, let alone someone that looked like this girl.

Jane really wanted to ask the girl who she was but the girl looked a bit too shy to answer questions from a stranger. Her hair was obscuring most of her face and the way she was hunched over made it look like she would rather disappear than be looked at.

All in all, she looked shy, really shy, absurdly shy. Just so shy that it almost didn't seem natural. Worse than Hinata shy was how shy she was. Well, it was probably too bad for the girl, who just looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and be ignored for the rest of eternity, but Akira was interested in her.

**Shizuko - Level (2) - Queen Of Books**

**Health - 75 / 75**

**SP - 75 / 75**

**CP - 60 / 60**

**Affiliation - Konohagakure**

'So _that's_ who Shizuko is' Akira realized, briefly remembering her from the name call. "Oops! Sorry!" Akira felt better after apologizing, even if it was slightly belated.

"I'm Akira. What's your name?" Shizuko flinched at the question. Okay, now Akira was worried. Did he do something wrong? Did she have sensitive ears? Was he just being too loud in general?

Shizuko squeaked in lieu of a reply, folding into herself. Quickly, she seemed to realize that the noise she made wasn't an actual reply and shrunk away from him. Ah, another shy and friendless person then, Akira assumed.

"That's okay." Akira gave one of the reassuring smiles he usually gave Naruto, "I'll just call you… Snow! 'Cause your hair reminds me of it. It's very pretty by the way!" Compliments were always good. Akira kept his voice lower than before, just in case it was a noise issue

"Alright Class!" The teacher announced, seeming to look right at Akira. Meanwhile, Akira was trying to figure out what little kid logic he could use to make a conversation from nothing. "That's all for today."

"Meet me in the classroom tomorrow to begin your evaluation." Jirou looked at each kid, almost judgingly, and lingered on Akira. Briefly confused, Akira stared back before he realized the issue.

'Wait, where's the classroom?' Akira blinked, begrudgingly admitting to himself that _maybe _listening to the teacher _might've_ been a good thing. The class dispersed before Akira could ask anyone to clarify.

Akira turned to the only person who did not immediately run off. Shizuko was just fidgeting in place, playing with her long hair. It really did look kind of like snow, all the more to call her Snow.

"So…" Akira trailed off, feeling embarrassed for what he was about to ask, "Snow…" The girl looked up at him briefly, before staring at the floor, "I… um… well I have no idea where the classroom is? Wanna… I don't know… hang out together before class starts tomorrow and you can show me the way?"

Shizuko, thankfully, just nodded jerkily. Seeming to look at him through her hair, though Akira was hard pressed to tell you what her eye color was behind it. Akira gave the poor girl another reassuring smile, or tried to, but Shizuko just seemed to fall further into herself.

_***Ping***_

**Quest Line Found -**

**[Pass the Evaluation] - 1 / 4**

**[Find the Classroom]**

**\- You weren't paying attention, find the classroom anyway**

**Rewards: EXP, Continue the Quest Line, ?**

**Accept **

**[ Y ] / [ N ]**

'Well, that's an easy one' Akira thought as he accepted it. He tossed Shizuko a kind smile before he was quickly overrun by something bright eyed, blonde haired, and wearing orange.

Naruto tackled Akira in his excitement, sending both of them stumbling to the side and they struggled not to fall. They swung around in each other's arms and laughed. The two easily ignored the Killing Intent the villagers were throwing at them from a distance.

Akira twitched as he felt the level of KI swell for a moment, but only for a moment, when something caught the corner of his eye. It was a sort of reddish orange color. The thing was only there for a moment and disappeared as soon as he tried to get a better look.

Naruto's insistent tugging pulled from the mystery. Akira could wonder about it another day. He banished it from conscious thought, knowing full well it would linger till he could solve it. That didn't matter now, he had more important things to do.

Shizuko watched the duo walk away, wondering for a moment if she might have a friend like that one day. She forced herself to turn away, no she wouldn't think about that. Her feet carried her numbly, she had more important things to do.

**Quick question before I really get into the academy arc:**

**I've been puzzling it over myself but want to know what you guys think first.**

**Team 7 or No Team 7?**

**I do kind of want the original Team 7 to still be a thing but I also want this not to be a story where I just insert my OC into the main plotline by kicking out Sakura or making a 5 person team.**

**I do have an idea for I do decide to keep Team 7 and don't want to do either of the above things but I want to know what you guys think.**

**Tell me in the comments what you want! I want to make this reading experience as enjoyable as my writing experience!**

**\- Color**


	8. Chapter 8

New day, new Akira! -Well sort of- Did Akira want to wake up this morning? No. Did that mean Akira was going to admit it took him a solid fifteen minutes to crawl out of bed this morning? Also no. Then he remembered he had to go to the academy. That got him out of bed fast.

It probably didn't help that, through the powers of **Gamer's Body**, Akira was a morning person through and through. Akira is the one that could wake up at five in the morning with no issue.

Now Jane, Jane was a night owl to the core. The whole stay up until midnight then sleep through to noon shtick. That was Jane, but it was not Akira. What it was was confusing.

All in all, it was a very weird and very confusing feeling to have in the morning. After a little over a week of it, Akira was sort of used to it. It was still very weird. Wide awake yet somehow part of him was still out cold. He mostly just tried to ignore it and power through. A skill Jane excelled at.

Either way, Akira had important things to do today that would not be foiled by some transdimensional tiredness. Although, he could already tell that trying to pay attention was going to be a futile endeavor. That wasn't new though.

"Ki!" came the cry of none other than one blonde best friend, who barreled into Akira and sent the pair sprawling. Wrapping his arms around Naruto, Akira briefly wondered just how touch starved this kid was. Far too touch starved was the obvious answer.

Or maybe Naruto just really liked hugs. That was also a possibility. Right, on a different topic, Akira was glad to be awake this morning for one reason. Namely, less villagers.

It was early, maybe five or so. Consequently, less villagers were up this morning simply because they didn't have to be. After all, why walk your kid to ninja school at five in the morning when they can do it themselves? Yeah, that didn't make sense to Akira either.

There were a few still out. Those that were took the effort to turn and glare at Naruto. That reminded Akira of his new unofficial -because the game didn't pick up on it- 'title'. The pair were now called 'The Demon Brat and his follower' by most civilians. It was kind of funny how stupid they were.

"Mornin' Naru," Akira yawned, releasing his friend to stand and stretch. Maybe if he pulled far enough, he could dispel his otherworldly exhaustion. Probably not but he could try. Something caught his eye.

'What was…?!' Akira turned right, looking into a dark alley. He could've sworn he saw that same reddish orange flash from yesterday. The color almost reminded him of fire. But it was already gone. 'What the hell, is it just following me around to drive me mad?'

There was nothing in the dark alley even resembling… whatever that flash was supposed to be. Just dirt, grime, and trash cans. Disgusting and not resembling the flash of fire at all. Akira huffed in annoyance.

"Is something wrong Ki?" Naruto proded, tilting his head curiously. He leaned, peering over his friend's shoulder to look into the alley. Again, there was nothing of importance there. How annoying.

"Nah, it's… nothing Naru. Just tired I guess." Akira excused himself after a moment of thought. He tore his gaze from the alley, there was nothing interesting in there anyway. Though seriously, what was that flash?

While obviously still curious, Naruto seemed to accept his answer for what it was. He trusted his new friend to tell him if it was serious. Naruto was nice like that. Seriously, why did no one else like this kid?

The two walked side by side, happy in their relative silence. Naruto skipped along, kicking at petals and vibrating with excitement. The morning sun shone over the village, warming them was but enough to be uncomfortable. It was nice.

Akira watched his friend skip along, still humming that happy tune that Akira couldn't remember where he heard it from. "You really are adorable," Akira couldn't help but say, resuming his humming.

Naruto froze, almost tripping with a squeak. It happened whenever Akira complimented him and it was basically Akira's life goal to get Naruto used to compliments. Naruto turned to look at him, face slightly flushed as he stammered out "Race you to the academy!" and took off.

Startled, all Akira could do was stare after the retreating figure of his friend. Then, he laughed. Seriously, was it even possible for Naruto to not be adorable? He didn't think it was. Akira raced off after Naruto.

With his **Running** skill and high **DEX**, Akira almost managed to beat Naruto despite the blonde having quite a head start. It was only a few seconds difference, but Akira was proud of it. Even if he did lose the race.

_***Ping***_

'Sweet, if that's what I think it is then I might even beat Naru next time!' Akira huffed. He was pretty sure that that was his **Running** skill. What else would it be really?

Naruto was barely even panting, hardly affected at all by the run. Then again, considering the kid's **SP**, that wasn't really a surprise. It did make Akira a little jealous though. Even if the reason why isn't something Akira would want for himself.

"I'll catch you after!" Naruto chirped, smiling like the sunshine child he was. Then he darted off to be early for what was likely the first and only time in his life. Akira didn't remember him being early to literally anything in the show.

Catching the flash of color again, Akira almost gave himself whiplash trying to find it. Yet, again, it eluded him. How long was this going to go on for? What was that thing? Why was it following him? Why did Akira feel like the answer to that last one was staring him in the face?

Akira sighed, deciding to focus on something that wouldn't likely drive him mad. That's when he spotted Shizuko, still blanketed in her long hair and hiding most of her face. Unlike yesterday, she was wearing an oversized light blue shirt that covered her fingers. Akira's heart? Squee.

Grinning, Akira jogged over to her. "Hey, Snow, you waited," Shizuko didn't even look at him, "Well, let's get to the classroom, okay?" Akira asked softly, like he was talking to a frightened kitten. Shizuko did seriously remind him of one. A tiny, soft, albino kitten.

Shizuko gave a jerky nod, shuffling off at a relatively fast pace. Akira followed easily, noting how long her hair was. It reached her knees, which was impressive for someone who was -what?- eight at the most.

Their silence was more awkward than the one between Akira and Naruto. It was probably because they didn't know each other very well but that didn't help the awkwardness. Akira scrambled for a conversation topic.

"Have you seen a fox around? I've heard rumors of a baby one sneaking about." was Akira's attempt at conversation. He felt like kicking himself or banging his head against the wall. What was _that_?

Really, talking about foxes in a village that despised them for having a big one attack them? What an idiot. He could've talked about murder and it probably would've been more socially acceptable.

Shizuko, to her credit, only gave pause for a moment before shaking her head. Her hair shook with her, like a wave of white. Seriously though, she had to be sort of important for that color. Maybe Akira was just overthinking it all. This wasn't just an anime anymore.

"That's too bad, I really like foxes personally. Especially the baby ones, they're adorable. I don't know why, they're like a mix of cats and dogs. The perfect middle ground really." It came to Akira that if he had this conversation with anyone else, he'd be called a demon immediately.

Shizuko actually seemed to relax as Akira continued to talk. Despite this being the worst conversation topic in Konoha, it wasn't a bad conversation. Shizuko nodded as he finished, agreeing with him at that.

"But that's usually just me, not a lot of people like foxes. What about you?" Shizuko shrugged, making a 'so-so' motion with her hand. Akira wondered if she was mute or something, he hadn't heard her speak yet and this is his second 'conversation' with her.

"Really? Well, what's your favourite animal then? You strike me as an owl person." Akira didn't know what he felt she was an owl person. It just made sense for some reason.

Shizuko seemed to think for a moment, then nodded, shook her head, and made the 'nyah' motion. Akira, at this point, accepted that their conversations were going to basically be a big game of charades.

"Cats then? That's great! Kittens are adorable too!" Akira chirped. Well, at least they were having a conversation. It wasn't so bad, having to decipher Shizuko that is. It actually made Akira think, so he could actually keep up with the conversation. That didn't happen often.

Bobbing her head, Shizuko stopped suddenly. The two of them were standing in front of a door, surprise surprise. A little to the right of the door was a placard reading 'C-1'. Presumably, that means 'Class C Year 1'.

Again, Akira was left wondering what the hell the different classes meant. Seriously, he should look it up or ask somebody or _something_. Maybe there was a library he could go to. Konoha had to have a library, right?

_***Ping***_

**Side Quest Discovered - **

**[Queen of Books: The Reckoning]**

**You have questions, questions that need answers. To get these answers, find the library.**

**Rewards: EXP, (1) Random Skill, ?**

**Accept**

**[ Y ] / [ N ]**

'So I can think side quests into existence?' Akira wondered, accepting the quest, 'Neat!' The pair slid open the door to the room. The classroom inside looked basically identical to the one for the show, but older and more used. It was like the room didn't get replacements very often.

"Wow, I didn't think we'd be here earlier than the teacher." Akira muttered, surveying the room. There was, in fact, no teacher. Only a couple other students were in the room, occupying themselves with things they brought from home.

Then again, it was only -what- 5:30 at the latest? The academy didn't begin till 6. Shizuko nodded slightly, indicating she had heard him.

From experience, Jane knew teachers were less likely to notice her not paying attention when she sat in the back. So that's where Akira went, Snow shuffling behind him.

Hoisting himself onto a desk, Akira asked Snow, "So what do you want to do till the teacher gets here?" as he swung his legs. It made Jane feel like a kid but then again, Akira was a kid. It was weird and Akira didn't want to think about it.

Shizuko shrugged, sliding into the chair next to him. She took the chance to curl even further into herself now that her feet were off the floor. Akira couldn't see her eyes but he had a feeling she was looking at him.

Their conversation continued… about that same as the rest of them really. Akira would talk and ask questions, pausing when Shizuko did her charades to answer him. It was possibly one of the weirdest conversations Akira could remember having but it was… kind of nice.

Of course, one sided didn't even begin to describe how unbalanced their conversation was. As more students filtered into the room, some gave the pair odd looks because of how they were acting. Did Akira care? No. It wasn't awkward, it was nice. Who cares what others think?

As they talked, Akira could've sworn he saw that reddish orange flash again and again. It was appearing with a startling frequency and Akira really just wanted to know what it was! Why wouldn't it show itself?

'How annoying,' Akira sighed, swinging back on the desk and kicking his legs out. Shizuko visibly flinched at the movement, seeming to try to fuse her chest to her legs. Akira gave her a concerned look. Hopefully, Snow was just shy… hopefully.

"Hm? Maaa, it isn't you Snow. Just thinking about things." Akira assured his… friend? Were they friends? Did Shizuko see him as a friend or was it all on Akira's side? Why is he even asking these questions when he knows how to check?

The two fell into a companionable silence. Shizuko pulled a book out of nowhere and read while Akira continued to swing his legs and hum a tune he didn't remember the words to.

'Screw it, I'm gonna check… **Relationships**'

**Konoha Civilians - Disliked (-854)**

**Konoha Shinobi - Strangers (-15)**

**Matron Mira - Strangers (520)**

**Naruto Uzumaki - Best Friends (4125)**

**Shizuko - Strangers (650)**

'Just strangers then. Makes sense, I only met her yesterday and she's very shy.' Akira thought, not really hurt by Shizuko not considering him a friend. She looked like the apprehensive type anyway.

'I'm not really even supposed to know her name.' Akira hummed, laying down on the desks. Shizuko looked up briefly at his movement and then looked down at her book. Akira wondered what it was.

**Book - Tales of a Gutsy Shinobi, it would have horrible reviews on yelp**

'Oh, it's that book of Jiraya's that no one likes,' Akira blinked in surprise, then frowned briefly, ' I didn't know they sold any of his books to children.' Akira shrugged awkwardly and turned to stare at his **Relationship** screen for no reason. It sort of just looked like he was staring at the ceiling.

"What-" the pair jumped as someone new spoke suddenly, "do you think _you're_ doing here?" It was Jirou, Akira's sensei. Clearly, he was speaking to Akira. Clearly, he hadn't expected, nor wanted, Akira in the classroom.

"Well, me and Shizuko" 'Shizuko and _I_' Jane corrected internally, "got here early, so we came to the classroom to wait." Akira blinked innocently. Jirou looked affronted for a moment, staring down at Akira who tried his best to look cute.

"And I should believe you aren't planning something _why_?" Akira felt insulted that Jirou thought he was planning _anything_. Seriously, he was staring at the ceiling. What, did Jirou think he had laser vision or something?

'Why are you so mad?' Akira thought helplessly, trying to come up with an answer other then 'because I'm eight and innocent as fuck dumbass.' He just had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. Just a smidge.

Surprisingly, because she looked to have no backbone, Shizuko spoke up in his defense. Or at least, she seemed to. Akira couldn't quite hear her but Jirou seemed to have retained enough ninja training to be able to understand.

"...truth…" was all Akira could understand. Jirou turned his attention on her, prepared to lay into her two. Then seemed to realize he 1) had a sliver of a heart, and 2) Shizuko would likely cry if he tried and no one wants to have to deal with a sad kitten.

"_Fine._" Jirou spoke with a surprising ferocity. Akira flinched with Shizuko, that's how angry it was. Shizuko remained stiff, like a statue.

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

_***Ping***_

'Jesus that rises fast!' Akira jolted. A trained chunin has more KI that a civilian, surprise surprise. No, really, Akira was actually surprised that having Jirou's ire was so much worse that most of the civilian population.

"You and…" Jirou looked down at his clipboard, "Shizuko can sit back here then." He gave the pair -or likely just Akira- one last distrustful glare before he turned and left. Akira relaxed, Shizuko did not.

Speaking of which, "Shizuko! That's your name," Akira turned to his not-quite-friend, "Nice to meet you! I hope you don't mind if I still call you Snow though," Akira teased, smiling. He held his hand out to shake.

Shizuko stared at him for quite a bit then his hand, and accepted it. Akira could've sworn he even saw her smile. "Yay! Friendship!" Akira cheered, and he was taking that light shaking of her shoulders as repressed laughter.

_***Ping***_

**Quest Line Continued -**

**[Pass the Evaluation] - 2 / 4**

**[Find the Classroom] - Completed**

**Rewards: EXP, Continue the Quest Line, Friendship Points with [Shizuko]**

**[Work Work Work]**

**You found your classroom, but that was only step one! Pass the written exam!**

**Rewards: EXP, Continue the Quest Line, ?**

**Accept -**

**[ Y ] / [ N ]**

Akira grinned, righting himself to slide into his chair. Apparently, the teacher decided to arrive only five minutes before class began. 'This is going to be so easy!' Yes, he was sure of himself, sue him. Akira accepted and, for the first time, waited patiently.

**Anyone who's read the previous version of this story (that I've finished rewriting as of this chapter) might realize that I didn't include something that was in the original chapter.**

**That being the 'Romance Bar' for the relationships tab. Why? There are three simple answers.**

**1) Akira is physically eight at the moment, even if Jane is in her mid-thirties, and that's weird.**

**2) I've changed the requirements from 'Have One Friend to Unlock' to something more suitable. I will not say it here though.**

**and 3) Akira is ****_eight years old_****, so just no.**

**I hope no one is too hung up on that but I figured I might as well address it.**

**\- Color**


	9. Chapter 9

Despite Akira's claim of waiting patiently, his impatient tapping spoke otherwise. Just a subtle thumping in the background as the teacher took roll. It stemmed from the small part of Akira that was nervous about, well, everything.

Nervous that he'd wake up one day just to be Jane, and only Jane. Nervous that Naruto might decide he hates him for one reason or another. Nervous that everything will go wrong because Akira chose to step out of line. Even, and yes he knows it's stupid, nervous about the written exam.

Akira knows he shouldn't, that he should just relax. Intellectually, Akira knows the test can't be that hard. It's for eight-year-old wanna be genins. How hard could they possibly make it before they were just sabotaging their students chances?

Intellectually, Akira knows that he has the knowledge to pass said test. His mind often decided to commit the oddest things to memory. Useless facts about an anime Jane saw once was one of them.

That's what Akira knows, but that's different from how Akira feels. Even as Jane, Akira was never often ruled by what he knew. Jane was always the type to follow feelings, gut instincts if you will. Often, this would have Jane worrying over things she shouldn't but it did occasionally work out in her favour.

Now, that something that caused Jane to have exactly what she needed when she needed it was telling Akira that something was about to go wrong. Of course, the feeling wasn't always right. Akira knew that as a fact but it didn't make him any less on edge.

Roll settled quickly, Akira's class had the least amount of people after all. By the end of it, Akira couldn't remember the name of a single one of his classmates, other than Shizuko that is. That wasn't new though.

Papers were passed out swiftly and without lingering. Face down in front of him was only a piece of paper yet Akira's anxiety seemed to see it as a nuclear warhead. A pit formed in his stomach, Jane had hated tests and now so did Akira.

Jirou muttered something as he passed. He was far too quiet for Akira to hear but Akira got the feeling that it wasn't something nice like 'Good Luck'. Not that Akira needed luck, right? It wasn't like anxiety was creeping down his neck or anything. No, of course not.

"Begin," Jirou snapped, taking position in front of a class of anxious and excited toddlers. Akira knew he shouldn't make fun of them. He was one of them.

Shizuko didn't seem worried, or at least not at a glance. She simply moved her book and took in the questions with the same soft expression Shizuko seemed to always have. Akira had to admit, he was jealous of her confidence.

Taking a deep breath, Akira flipped over his paper and… immediately wanted to kick himself for worrying so much. The questions were almost disappointingly easy to answer. Then again, they were for essentially a group of second graders.

Questions were things such as 'What is the leader of the village called', 'What is the village called', 'What are the names of this nation', and basic math problems. Just very simple things.

It took maybe ten minutes for Akira to answer all of the questions. After which he flipped over his paper and took a look around the room. No one else was done yet. Then again, second graders were answering second grade -third at most- questions.

Looking briefly at Shizuko, she also seemed to still be puzzling through the math problems. 'How long is this going to last? Did Jirou mention? I don't remember.' Akira puzzled resting his head on his hands.

At some point while waiting for the others, things started getting hazy. Lines blurred at the edges of Akira's vision, his breathing got heavy and slower. His eyelids felt like lead weights.

Fun fact, **Gamer's Body** does not, in fact, exempt one from things like the need to eat or sleep. Akira is just learning of this fact as his eyes start getting heavy. Many nights spent staying up and simply staring at the game caught up with Akira's eight-year-old body.

Even if Jane was used to an irregular sleep schedule, Akira was not. So the lack of sleep got to Akira and, barely twelve minutes after the written exam started, Akira fell asleep.

Sleep was nice, a dark floaty abyss where time didn't exist. Since becoming the **Gamer**, Akira had always been more aware of the dark that came when he slept. Not to say he knew why. Something about just felt more real, lasted longer.

It often felt something was trying to reach out to him, or maybe Jane, when Akira was asleep. Akira never answered the call, not that he could. Moving in the abyss was like walking through concrete and breathing honey instead of air.

Yet something that stayed about sleep was the lack of real time in the void. What felt like five minutes of sleep was quickly interrupted… thirty minutes later. Did it feel like thirty minutes? Not really, but it was.

A loud bang caused Akira to jolt out of sleep. Blinking to try and convince his vision to focus, the sound of laughter reached his ears. Rubbing his eyes with a yawn, Akira looked towards what, or rather who, had woken him.

The noise had been caused by a large folder of papers being dropped on Shizuko's desk. How rude, the person could've just placed them nicely. Shizuko seemed easily startled as it was.

Looking at his not-quite-friend, Shizuko seemed embarrassed. Why Akira didn't know, but he could tell. A hand was thrust into his vision. Again, rude. Someone should really have a talk with this person about manners.

Following the arm that the hand was connected to, Akira looked up, and up, and up. Meeting the gaze of… his teacher… oh… Well, Akira stood by the fact that Jirou needed some manners. He'd been nothing but rude to Akira all day.

Giving the teacher a lopsided smile, Akira passed his paper to him. What else would the man want? A tap dance performance? Jokes on him, Jane hadn't tap danced since she was actually eight.

"Sorry Sensei," Akira wasn't really sorry, just a little embarrassed. Maybe that's why Shizuko was embarrassed? Second hand embarrassment? Shizuko did seem like the type of person to be very empathic.

Pondering this, Akira barely noticed the teacher move to the front of the room. Shizuko poked his side, snapping Akira out of his thoughts. Just in time for the teacher to start speaking too.

"We will have a brief break so your tests may be graded. When we come back-" Kids jolted to leave, but the same loud bang that woke Akira stopped them in their tracks, "_When we come back,_" A glare was spread around the room, "you will be testing your physical skills."

A 'dismissed' was spoken but lost as the kids fought for the chance to go outside, all rushing for the door at the same time. Akira just watched them. As Jane, she'd never been the first to leave. The pushing and pulling of a crowd was never very attractive for her.

Instead, Akira turned to Shizuko. "How'd you think you did?" Shizuko gave him a _look_ that he wasn't entirely sure what meant, then shrugged. "I think you did pretty good." She gave him a small smile, barely visible behind her curtain of hair.

Shizuko made several motions, vaguely asking if he'd really fallen asleep in the middle of the exam. "Did I actually fall asleep?" Akira thought that was what she said at least. Thankfully, his abilities in charades was still fairly good as Shizuko nodded.

"Well… Yeah, it only took me about ten minutes to finish it." Giving her a grin, Akira couldn't help but feel embarrassed, his face turning red. Shizuko just gave him an almost incredulous look. Akira didn't get why for a moment, then remembered his advantage of three and a half decades mentally.

Akira gave a sheepish smile, standing. "Anyway, I'm gonna go find Naru. Wanna come?" Shizuko didn't seem to have any friends either so Akira figured he'd at least ask.

No one was waiting with Shizuko before school and no one stayed behind to talk to her. It was a fitting assumption in Akira's mind. Jane knew what it was like to sit on the outside, surrounded by people but utterly alone. Even if she had been mostly alone by choice.

To Shizuko's benefit, she did seem to think it over before she rejected him. It was still a rejection though, but Akira took it in stride. If she didn't want to come, she didn't have to come.

"Okay, see you later. Come find us if you change your mind! We should be easy to find." With an easy smile and a wave, Akira turned to walk out of the room. By this point, only Shizuko and Jirou were in the room with him.

He missed Shizuko's soft, almost sad, sigh as she took out her book again and continued to leave. The door clicked shut behind him as the classroom fell silent. Jirou graded, Shizuko read, and it seemed as though life drained from the room.

It took longer to find Naruto than Akira thought it would. The fact that he had no idea where to look to begin with probably didn't help. All the hallways seemed the same to him and as Jane he never had the best sense of direction. It was kind of ridiculous really.

But Akira remained stubborn, because he is nothing if not that. His legs carried him as his mind wandered to places unknown. The hallways blurred, Akira's thoughts elsewhere. Yet, somehow, he managed to find a way to the field.

Just because Akira found his way outside, doesn't mean his mind immediately snapped to attention. No, that's one flaw that he's had all of both of his lives. It's not going to go away so soon.

So, really, it wasn't his fault when he ran into someone. Running into people isn't a very new experience for Akira, and certainly not Jane, but falling on top of them is. Apparently, an eight-year-old has less reaction time than a 35-year-old when it comes to not falling over. Or maybe it's a muscle memory thing. Akira wasn't sure.

What Akira was sure of was that he had hit someone, kind of hard too. They landed on the ground with a thud. Fortunately, Akira was on top of this sandwich. Unfortunately, Akira was on top of this kind of angry looking person.

Reality phased back into existence as Akira came to his senses, realizing all at once that he had made a mistake. He blinked taking in the person below him. Another kid, his age he thought. Maybe from one of the other classes, or maybe his own. Akira didn't pay much attention so who knows. Not him.

The person below him had dark green hair, cut to around their chin but currently splayed out around them from the fall. Their skin was paler than Akira's tan but still healthy, maybe a bookworm? They had eyes the color of honey.

'How pretty…' Akira though dully. The honey eyes were narrowed, as if angry. Brows pinched and their mouth drawn into a frown. Why were they angry? Because Akira had just bowled them over.

A high pitched squeak left Akira's mouth, embarrassing really, as he scrambled to his feet. "Oh no, i'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going and-" Akira offered a hand to help him up.

Whoever Akira had knocked over scoffed, getting up on their own. "I can tell," They interrupted, dusting themself off, "Maybe learn to look with those eyes of yours?"

'Rude…' Akira pouted, awkwardly returning his hand to his side. "Jian! Be nice." Another voice chimed in. Another person walked over, looking much like the one -Jian?- Akira had knocked over except more clearly a little boy.

"He apologized, no need to be rude." Akira blinked at this carbon copy of Jian, the only real difference was that his dark green hair was shorter. Otherwise, Akira might not have been able to tell which was which.

"It's fine, I'm used to it." Akira stepped in. Really, he was used to Jian's behaviour. Akira got worse from the villagers every day, what was one brat in comparison?

"Really?" Jian's copy looked surprised for a moment before they recovered, "You should still be nicer." They finished with a decisive nod. Jian pouted, obviously used to being chewed out.

"I'm Zue! This is Jian, sorry about him. Are you okay? You seem lost. Are you looking for someone? We can help!" Zue -Jian's look alike- spoke really fast, Akira noted. The barrage of questions catching Akira off guard for a moment.

"Um…" How eloquent, "I'm Akira. I guess I'm lost, and I'm looking for my friend from class B." Akira responded, definitely feeling lost. His whole body shook as Zue shook his hand.

"And I don't care." Jian huffed, done with this situation. Akira couldn't help but smile at his attitude. It honestly reminded Jane of her grandpa, he always used to act like that but told the best stories. Akira missed him... Well, anyway, depressing thoughts aside-

"Jian!" Zue whined, pouting. The two pouted at each other with increasingly strong levels of puppy dog eyes. Akira didn't really know what to think. So instead, he stood there awkwardly and pretended he didn't exist.

The match between the two was legendary, though it only lasted for about thirty seconds. Jian huffed, "Fine~ Let's find this idiot's friend." Zue squealed, snatching Jian's hand and starting to drag them away.

"Let's go!" Akira wandered after Zue, not entirely sure what was going on. They got as far as the first training ground before anyone spoke up.

"Do you… even know who I'm looking for?" Akira felt awkward asking but knew it had to be asked. Jian stopped, planting themself so Zue couldn't drag them any further. Zue froze.

"No!" Was Zue's strained, still somewhat cheery response. There was an audible slap as Jian face palmed. A snicker tore itself from Akira in his surprise.

"Well, he's a little shorter than me, has blonde hair, blue eyes, and these whisker looking marks on his face." Akira dragged three fingers across his cheek, mimicking the marks on Naruto's cheeks.

Zue hummed, then walked off again. The trio walked together, an idle conversation popping up between Akira and Zue, Jian mostly just watching on moodily.

What the two of them talked about, Akira couldn't really say. The topic of conversation was as flighty as Akira's attention span. It switched from one thing to the next in a blink of an eye. Compared to the small talk Jane was used to, it was really quite refreshing.

Giggling, Akira watched as Jian finally spoke up, almost insulting Zue. Zue seemed to also find the insult funny and even Jian gave a small smile. "That's Jian for you, she's quite the jokester."

Akira almost tripped, Jian was a girl? She didn't look like a girl. Or was that insulting? Akira felt that was somehow insulting. "Yep, nice jokes." Akira spoke awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Zue laughed, it was nice to have… friends? Almost, Akira hoped they would become friends at least. They were really nice, maybe they would even like Naruto. That would be nice.

'**Observe**' Akira commanded idly.

**Jian Lee - Level (1) - The Stubborn Elder Twin**

**Health - 100 / 100**

**SP - 100 / 100**

**CP - 75 / 75**

**Affiliation - Konohagakure**

**Zue Lee - Level (1) - The Clever Younger Twin**

**Health - 100 / 100**

**SP - 100 / 100**

**CP - 75 / 75**

**Affiliation - Konohagakure**

'Well, at least I'm right that they're twins?' Akira decided to look on the bright side. He continued to joke with the twins, laughing and enjoying human company that didn't want to kill him.

They stopped for a moment in the shade of a tree. It seemed almost familiar to Akira, though he didn't know why. They were right in front of the academy. A tire swing hung from one of the branches, Zue swinging in it idly as Jian sat at the base of the tree.

Akira was about to join Jian when a body threw itself against him. A startled yelp escaped him as the world tipped suddenly. "Ki!" A very familiar voice cried right next to his ear.

One, ouch that was loud, but Two, yay it was Naruto! "Naru!" Akira twisted to return the hug, laughing. The pair giggled, sitting up in the shade of the tree. The grass tickled against Akira's bare legs.

"Naru?" Akira just barely caught someone, Zue maybe, say. "Ki?" if the other was Zue, that was Jian. Akira turned to them, nervous they would hate him like the villagers. Thankfully, they mostly seemed curious rather than outright hating them.

"This is Uzumaki Naruto! He's my best friend!" Then turning to Naruto, "Naru, these are my new friends Jian and Zue." Naruto also seemed reluctant, also expecting them to hate him.

Naruto gave a nervous smile, waving. The two waved back, looking curious but equally reluctant to actually speak to him. The three looked to Akira, who was too busy praying they would get along to pay attention, then looked at each other.

"It's nice to meet you Naruto! I'm Zue! This is my twin sister Jian!" Zue's cheerful tone was noticeably strained. He'd heard stories from his parents about not getting close to 'that Uzumaki boy' but… Akira was nice… Akira didn't hate Jian's attitude. In fact, Akira seemed to find Jian funny, just like Zue.

So, if Akira -the only person who really wanted to be friends with both of them rather than just Zue- was best friends with… Uzumaki… then they might as well try. Worst case scenario, their parents force them to stop being friends and they convince Akira to just be friends with them instead.

"Nice to meet ya!" Naruto gave a mischievous grin, the same one Akira knew from the show. A relieved sigh left him, thankful they were getting along.

The quartet fell into a nice conversation, even if strained from three-quarters of them. Akira smiled, maybe school wouldn't be so bad. He would become a ninja, he would protect the important people, things would turn out okay.

Little did Akira know how much he was already changing the timeline. Whether it was for better or worse? Well, that's a matter of perspective. Hopefully, Akira would see it as better. For now, it's too early to tell.

Time moved on.


End file.
